₦airaland Forum

The National Council of the Nigerian Stock Exchange is pleased to announce that the appointments of the following Chief Executives to head its non-operating Holding Company and operating subsidiaries have been approved by the Securities Exchange Commission, Nigeria.

*Oscar N. Onyema, OON Group Chief Executive Officer Nigerian Exchange Group Plc

*Temi Popoola, CFA Chief Executive Officer Nigerian Exchange Limited

*Tinuade Awe Chief Executive Officer NGX Regulation Limited

Under the demutualisation plan, a new non-operating holding company, the Nigerian Exchange Group plc (NGX Group) has been created. The Group will have three operating subsidiaries – Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), the operating exchange; NGX Regulation Limited (NGX REGCO), the independent regulatory company; and NGX Real Estate Limited (NGX RELCO), the real estate company – forming the Group. All the entities have been duly registered at the Corporate Affairs Commission.

Commenting on the appointments:
Otunba Abimbola Ogunbanjo, Chairman of Nigerian Exchange Group Plc (NGX Group) Board of Directors stated:
“The confirmation of these appointments are an important step in the process of building a leading and resilient African Exchange Group following the completion of our demutualisation programme.

I am delighted to continue working with Oscar N. Onyema, OON who has played a significant role in the reshaping of the Exchange. As a proven business leader and strategic thinker, I am confident that he will elevate the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX Group) and its subsidiaries successfully into a new era of development.”

Otunba Ogunbanjo also recorded his thanks to the retiring Ex-Officio Member of the Council:

“I would like to warmly thank Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imokhuede, CON who retires as Ex-Officio of the National Council following the demutualisation of the Exchange. He not only provided wise and valuable counsel to the NSE over the years in its quest towards its demutualisation, he contributed significantly to the transformational achievements recorded by the Exchange during his tenure as President. I speak on behalf of the Council and Management of the NSE in commending him for his exceptional service and wishing him well in his future endeavours. Equally, I thank all past leaders of the Exchange many of whom started this journey and are alive to witness this epochal transition.”

A.B Mahmoud, Chairman of Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) said:
“The confirmation of the appointment of Temi Popoola, CFA as the first Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Exchange Limited comes at a pivotal moment for Nigerian capital markets as the Exchange enters a new phase of its history as a demutualised company, bringing to the Exchange his track record of achievement local and global capital markets.

He will focus on ensuring the Exchange delivers an even higher level of service for all its participants and stakeholders, including investors, listed companies and brokers. I look forward to working with him and his team in the new dispensation as we move forward on implementing the Group’s growth strategy.”

Catherine Echeozo, Chairperson, NGX Regulation (NGX REGCO) commented:
“The clear separation of the regulatory and business functions is an essential part of the Group’s operations following demutualisation and the Board was determined to ensure the selection of an experienced regulator for this task.

I believe all the Exchange’s stakeholders will welcome the announcement of Tinuade Awe as the first Chief Executive Officer of NGX Regulation, given her prodigious experience and track record in capital markets regulation. Our stakeholders can continue to look forward to a robust and transparent regulatory regime under her leadership.”

About The CEOs
GCEO, The Nigerian Exchange Group Plc
Mr. Oscar N. Onyema, OON is the Group Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX GROUP). Prior to this, he served as the CEO and member of the National Council of The Exchange from 2011 – 2021. In this role, he was responsible for supervising the general working of The Exchange.

He serves as the Chairman, Central Securities Clearing System Plc (CSCS), the clearing, settlement and depository for the Nigerian capital markets; and Chairman, NG Clearing, which is in the process of developing a Central Counterparty Clearing House (CCP).

In addition, Mr. Onyema is a Board member of the National Pension Commission of Nigeria (PENCOM) and sits on several advisory boards including the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) Africa Advisory Group (LAAG).

Prior to relocating to Nigeria, he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer at American Stock Exchange (Amex). He also ran the NYSE Amex equity business following the merger of NYSE Euronext and Amex in 2008.

His remarkable achievements have earned him awards such as the Special Recognition Award for transformational leadership in the Nigerian Capital Markets at Business Day Top 25 CEOs Award 2018. In 2015 Forbes Magazine named him among the Top 10 Most Powerful Men in Africa. In the preceding year, he received the national honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger (“OON”) from the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Mr. Onyema is an alumnus of Harvard Business School, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and INSEAD International Directors Programme. He got his MBA from Baruch College, New York; and BSc degree from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors (“IoD”) Nigeria, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), Associate of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) in the UK, and holds FINRA Series 7, 24, 63 qualifications in the United States.

CEO of Nigerian Exchange Limited
Mr. Temi Popoola, CFA is the Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Ltd. He is a successful C-suite leader whose unique blend of business acumen, financial expertise, global market growth and operational insight has earned him a reputation built on verifiable career achievements.

A Wall street trained investment banker, Mr. Popoola joins NGX Ltd. from Renaissance Capital (Rencap) where he was Managing Director and CEO for West Africa. He supported the continuous growth, profitability and success of the organisation by providing strategic market insight and leadership.

He led the transformation of Rencap in West Africa by diversifying the company’s revenue streams into fixed income, derivatives, structured products, debt financing and wealth management. In addition to influencing change across the organisation, he was responsible for overseeing a global workforce, expanding foreign investor capital opportunities into West Africa and introducing enduring business processes and strategic initiatives.

Since his return to Nigeria in 2009, Mr. Popoola has also worked with the United Bank of Africa (UBA) as Head of Structured Products for Global markets and with CSL Stockbrokers Ltd. as Head of Sales and Trading. In both of these positions, he guided growth and advancement for investors across global markets, including South Africa, the UK, the Middle east and the US.

Mr. Popoola began his career in London as a portfolio manager focused on African energy markets and worked for several years as a senior equity derivatives trader with Bank of America Securities in New York where he drove firm profitability by providing derivative solutions to US corporations and family offices.

He graduated with a First-Class degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Lagos and holds a Masters degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is a Chartered financial analyst (CFA) and a Chartered stockbroker (CIS). He holds Series 7 and 63 licensures.

CEO of NGX Regulation Limited
Ms. Tinuade Awe is the Chief Executive Officer, NGX Regulation (NGX REGCO) Ltd. Prior to attaining this position, she was an Executive Director, Regulation at The Exchange. She also served as the General Counsel and Head of the Legal and Regulation Division as well as Council Secretary before becoming an Executive Director. Prior to The Exchange, Ms. Awe worked with the United Nations in The Hague and Geneva as well as the New York offices of the global law firm, Simpson Thacher & Barlett and Banwo & Ighodalo in Lagos, Nigeria.

As Executive Director, Regulation, she had responsibility for the regulation of the two primary stakeholder groups of The Exchange, i.e., the Dealing Members that trade on The Exchange and issuers that have securities listed on The Exchange. Her team was responsible for rulemaking and interpretation, monitoring, inspections, market surveillance, investigations, regulatory technology, and enforcement.

She is a non-executive director of the Central Securities Clearing System Plc (CSCS). She is also a member of the Board of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC). She Chairs the FRC’s Board Corporate Governance Committee, which has Board-level responsibility to monitor the implementation of the National Code of Corporate Governance (NCCG).

Among other professional pursuits, Ms. Awe was a member of the Nigerian Senate’s Technical Advisory Committee to review the Bill for an Act to Amend the Companies and Allied Matters Act and the Bill for an Act to review the Investment and Securities Act.

Ms. Awe has an LL.B Degree from the Obafemi Awolowo University, graduating as the Best Female Student in the Faculty of Law. She finished at the Nigerian Law School with First Class Honours, graduating as Best Overall Student. She also holds LL.M Degrees from Harvard Law School, where she was a Landon H. Gammon Fellow, as well as The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where she graduated with Merit. At the LSE, she was a British Council Scholar. She is admitted to both the Nigerian and New York Bars.

Ms. Awe is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association and the International Bar Association. She is an Associate Member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN) and the Institute of Capital Market Registrars (ICMR). She is a Life Member of the Institute of Directors.

She is the recipient of The African Legal Awards 2018, General Counsel of the Year; Law Digest Africa Awards, General Counsel of the Year 2018, and Esq. Nigeria Legal Awards, General Counsel of the Year 2017. ​

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2021/04/01/sec-approves-appointment-of-ceos-of-demutualised-entities-of-the-nse/

The fresh injection of $51m in funding for Operations will further enhance Smile Telecoms’ position in its respective markets
Smile Telecoms Holdings Ltd., a Pan-African telecommunications group with operations in Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, announced today, March 30th 2021 that its RP (Restructuring Plan) has been approved and agreed with the lenders.

This debt restructuring plan sees an injection in fresh money funding from Smile’s majority shareholder, the Al Nahla, and rescheduling on debt repayment until post-March 2022.

The fresh injection of $51m in funding for Operations will further enhance Smile’s position in its respective markets and energize Smile’s operations and support efforts towards achieving better performance.

Founded in 2007, with its head office in England, Smile Telecoms Holdings Ltd is a Pan-African telecommunications group with operations in Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and South Africa. The company has one of the largest sub-1 GHz 4G LTE commercial networks in Africa, operating in the “future proof’ low band, 800 MHz band, and mid-band.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2021/04/01/debt-restructuring-smile-telecoms-receives-51m-funding/

Xiaomi Group is commencing its smart electric vehicle business with an official notice to Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX). Lei Jun, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Xiaomi, stated during its March 2021 launch event that the business will be operated under a Xiaomi wholly-owned subsidiary with an initial investment of RMB 10 billion.

Over the course of the next 10 years, Xiaomi is committed to investing an estimated USD 10 billion in total. Lei Jun will concurrently serve as the CEO of the smart electric vehicle business.

“The decision was made after numerous rounds of deliberation among all our Partners, and this will be the final major entrepreneurial project of my life. I am willing to put all my personal reputation on the line and fight for the future of our smart electric vehicle! I am determined to lead my team to fight for the success of the Xiaomi electric vehicle,” said Lei Jun.

He also uncovered that in the past 75 days he had witnessed Xiaomi executive team’s thorough decision-making journey, including rigorous and comprehensive research into the electric vehicle industry – 85 meetings with over 200 industry experts, four internal management debates, and two board meetings. Mi Fans’ continuous support and trust in Xiaomi’s values also prompted the company’s final decision.

Xiaomi is at its prime and has set a foundation for it to break new ground and commence building its smart electric vehicle business. According to its latest financial results, Xiaomi’s global smartphone shipments reached 146 million, upholding the company’s position in the top 3 globally. The sales of premium smartphones have exceeded 10 million units.

TV sales have topped the Mainland China market for 8 consecutive quarters. And with over 324.8 million connected devices on Xiaomi’s AIoT platform and monthly active users for XiaoAi AI Assistant reaching 86.7 million, Xiaomi continues to lead the smart home industry. By the end of 2020, the Group held a cash reserve of RMB 108 billion.

In an internal letter to employees, Lei Jun stated that Xiaomi has distinct and unique advantages in manufacturing cars:

Smart electric vehicles have fundamentally transformed the business model of the traditional automotive industry, and Xiaomi has the deepest understanding of the hardware-based internet service business model;
Xiaomi has the most extensive experience in software and hardware integration, and the most profound manufacturing know-how within the internet industry;
Xiaomi has a smart ecosystem which is the largest in terms of scale, the most diversified in terms of product category, and the most active in terms of user connections;
Xiaomi has numerous core technologies that can be applied to smart electric vehicle business;
Xiaomi has a powerful brand and strong user base, with trust and support from Mi Fans across the globe;
Xiaomi has abundant cash resources that allow Xiaomi to invest with confidence.

“Smart electric vehicles represent one of the largest business opportunities in the next decade and represent an indispensable component of smart living. Entering this business is a natural choice for us as we expand our smart AIoT ecosystem and fulfill our mission of letting everyone in the world enjoy a better life through innovative technology. ” Lei Jun said.

About Xiaomi Corporation

Xiaomi Corporation was founded in April 2010 and listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on July 9, 2018 (1810.HK). Xiaomi is an internet company with smartphones and smart hardware connected by an Internet of Things (IoT) platform at its core.

With an equal emphasis on innovation and quality, Xiaomi continuously pursues a high-quality user experience and operational efficiency. The company relentlessly builds amazing products with honest prices to let everyone in the world enjoy a better life through innovative technology.

Xiaomi ranked 3rd globally in terms of smartphone shipments in the fourth quarter of 2020. The company has also established the world’s leading consumer AIoT (AI+IoT) platform, with 324.8 million smart devices connected to its platform, excluding smartphones and laptops. Xiaomi products are present in more than 100 countries and regions around the world. In August 2020, the company made the Fortune Global 500 list for the second time, ranking 422nd, up 46 places compared to 2019. It also ranked 7th among internet companies.

Xiaomi is a constituent of the Hang Seng Index, Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, Hang Seng TECH Index and Hang Seng China 50 Index.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2021/04/01/xiaomi-expands-into-electric-vehicle-sector/

BMW is forging ahead with the development and rollout of the My BMW app.

This key interface between smartphone and vehicle made its debut in July 2020. Having already been launched in 30 European markets, China and Korea, it will now also be available with further expanded functionality in Japan, Australia and 10 other countries.

The My BMW app will also be rolled out in the USA and Canada from mid-April, making it available on five continents. Underpinning the rapid expansion of the My BMW app’s content and its fast-paced rollout is scalable and universal software architecture.

This has been fully developed in-house by BMW using Flutter, an open-source UI development kit from Google for the Dart programming language. The BMW Group’s Flutter/Dart development team is one of the world’s largest after Google’s, bringing together a total of 300 employees.

My BMW app: new features for March 2021.

The My BMW app runs on both iOS and Android operating systems and can be downloaded free of charge from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. It acts as a new universal interface with the car, providing information on the vehicle’s status at any time. Depending on the equipment fitted, it also enables remote operation of functions, such as vehicle locating, locking and unlocking the doors, and monitoring the car’s immediate vicinity (Remote 3D View).

Functions also include the ability to send destination addresses from a smartphone to the vehicle’s navigation system. Services from Amazon Alexa can be integrated via the My BMW app, too, while the range of functions for electrified vehicles has likewise been extended, including even clearer display of electric range.

The My BMW app makes it even easier for customers to log in to any current BMW model with their personal BMW ID. For example, the user information and settings stored in the BMW ID can now also be imported into the vehicle extremely conveniently by scanning a QR code displayed on the central screen. Last but not least, the My BMW app also allows the customer to contact their BMW Service Partner directly and provides them with a more detailed overview of their vehicle’s servicing requirements.

The My BMW app’s most important new functions from March 2021:

In addition to the integration of Amazon Alexa into models with BMW Operating System 7.0, the voice service is also now available for vehicles with BMW Operating System 5.0 and 6.0.
The Climate Timer allows pre-conditioning of vehicles with electrified drive systems – by heating the interior in winter and cooling it in summer, for example. This comfort-enhancing function has now been extended to diesel and petrol models too, meaning that their auxiliary heating and ventilation systems can also be programmed.

The Charging Plan provides owners of electrified BMW models with a clear, at-a-glance overview of all information on the current charging process (charging status, start time and duration, current range, pre-conditioning, time slot for charging and other relevant vehicle settings). In future, customers will additionally be able to benefit from push notifications informing them of the current charging status.
The filter function for charging station search makes it easy to find suitable charging facilities during a journey by quickly adding or removing various search parameters (provider, compatibility, charge speed, etc.).
Featuring a redesigned menu that is even more intuitive to use and further improvements to route calculation, BMW Maps now offers greater ease of use and enhanced performance.

The My BMW app: in-house development makes consistent use of cutting-edge technologies and componentry from big tech players.

The My BMW app is a new development that will fully replace the BMW Connected app from July 2021, and provide a technologically future-proof foundation. Its scalable universal architecture will support future requirements and is a crucial factor here, allowing new functions and customer requests to be implemented easily.

This will additionally pave the way for constant advances, with multiple updates every year allowing functionality to be continually expanded. The modular approach to the app has other benefits, too; e.g. the app platform can be readily used for other BMW Group brands while also making it compatible with a broad spectrum of language and infrastructure variants, and vehicle and on-board network generations.

“The new app platform is built on three pillars: user-friendliness, safety, and reliability,” explains Dr. Nicolai Krämer, Vice President Offboard Platform BMW Group. “It provides a consistently designed set of functions spanning all brands on the basis of feedback and our customers’ usage behaviour. Targeted application of industry standards and their integration into the global software community allows us to focus on the core technical issues that bring about a worthwhile enhancement of our products and services.”

The software platform for the My BMW app is known within the BMW Group by the name Mobile 2.0 App Core. Developed 100% in-house, it embraces the very latest technologies and features a broad technology stack, i.e. a data ecosystem with a variety of components from big tech players.

Thanks to its Flutter framework – an open-source UI development kit created by Google – and cross-platform design written in the Dart language, the My BMW app supports the iOS and Android operating systems using a single code base. At the same time, MS Azure from Microsoft was used to integrate a development environment with a full continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery/deployment (CD) pipeline in order to automate the app’s ongoing development process.

The app’s backend for frontend architectural pattern for superior ease of use builds on platforms as a service (PaaS) that likewise originate from Microsoft. The term ‘backend for frontend’ means, for instance, that the app’s functionality can be expanded or potential error sources eliminated without the customer having to download a new version of the app after the modifications have been carried out.

Cloudification also plays an essential role, because the app basically offers all functions, these can be displayed dynamically cloud-controlled depending on the vehicle equipment and market characteristics. Many of the My BMW app’s backend components, meanwhile, run on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud infrastructure.

“The BMW Group’s Flutter software development team is one of the largest in the world after Google’s own,” says Dr. Krämer. “As well as working on internal projects, our experts also offer software components externally as members of the Flutter community.”

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2021/03/31/my-bmw-app-new-features-and-tech-insights-for-march-2021/

GTBank Plc delivered a relatively impressive earnings performance in FY’2020. The Group’s gross earnings grew by 5% YoY, driven by a 2% YoY growth in interest income and an 11% YoY growth in non-interest income. Operating income grew by 6% YoY, while profit before tax grew by 3% YoY.

Profit after tax advanced by 2% YoY, and the Group declared a final dividend of N2.70 for FY’2020, having declared and paid an N0.30 interim dividend during the financial year. Thus, the total dividend for FY’2020 stood at N3.00, representing an 11% increase from the N2.70 total dividend declared in FY’2019.

The dividend qualification date is on March 31, 2021, while the payment date is on April 9, 2021.
Efficient Balance Sheet Management Spurs Earnings Growth
Given the financial system liquidity induced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in FY’2020, the Group expanded its funding base, reflected in the Group’s 39% YoY growth in customers’ deposits from N2.53trn as of FY’2019 to N3.51trn in FY’2020.

Specifically, current and savings account (CASA) grew by 45% YoY, thereby driving up the Group’s CASA ratio to 89% (the highest ever thus far). The implication of an 89% CASA is that a significant portion of customer deposits was low-cost, and the impact of that reflected in the Group’s cost of funds.

On the strength of an increase in funding base, the Group’s interest-yielding assets rose by 18% YoY from N2.99trn as of FY’2019 to N3.52trn as of FY’2020. The growth in interest- 45.00 yielding assets was largely on account of an increase in the Group’s loan book (+11% YoY) and 35.00 investment portfolio (+28% YoY). On loan book, the growth driver came from increased credit 30.00 flows to corporate manufacturing, telecoms, oil & gas, and retail sectors.

Regulatory risks heightened during the period, as restricted deposits increased by 112% YoY from N522.43bn as of FY’2019 to N1.23trn as of FY’2020. The increase in restricted deposits limited the ability of the grow interest-yielding assets during the period.

Interest income grew by 2% YoY from N296.21bn in FY’2019 to N300.74bn in FY’2020. According to the management, asset yield declined from 11.90% in FY’2019 to 11.00% in FY’2020. The marginal decline in the Group’s asset yield, despite a material decline in interest rates in the economy, reflected the group’s solid investment strategy. Also, the growth in the Group’s loan book offset the negative impact of asset yield decline.

The Group’s cost of funds declined from 2.90% in FY’2019 to 1.19% in FY’2020. As stated earlier above, the growth in the Group’s CASA implied a well-diversified funding base, and the optimal low-cost deposit mix led to the improvement in the cost of the fund. Accordingly, the Group’s interest expense declined by 27% YoY from N64.84bn in FY’2019 to N47.07bn in FY’2020. As a result, net interest income recorded double-digit growth (+10% YoY from N231.36bn in FY’2019 to N253.67bn in FY’2020).

Dealing Room and Treasury Activities Support Bottomline Growth
Non-interest income rose by 11% YoY, from N139.10bn in FY’2019 to N154.49bn in FY’2020. The non-interest income growth drivers were ‘net trading gains on financial instruments‘ (+17% YoY from N20.89bn to N24.49bn), and ‘foreign exchange revaluation gains’ (+232% YoY from N17.07bn to N56.64bn).

The optimization of the Group’s long position on its investment portfolio and the realised benefit of its long US$1.15bn FX position (ex-US$613mn swap position), spurred the Group’s non-interest earnings. Net fee and commission income declined by 21% YoY from N59.44bn in FY’2019 to N46.94bn in FY’2020, largely attributed to the impact of reduced fees and a COVID-induced decline in economic activities.

However, the Group’s trading activities and long FX position mitigated the net fees and commission decline. During the financial year, the contribution of non-interest income to the gross earnings stood at 34% (FY’2019: 32%).

Operating income advanced by 6% YoY, from N362.68bn in FY’2019 to N385.53bn in FY’2020. Meanwhile, operating expense increased by 13% YoY from N130.97bn in FY’2019 to N147.44bn in FY’2020. The cost drivers in FY’2020 were depreciation charges (+28% YoY), asset-based regulatory charges (+11% YoY), administrative expenses (+40% YoY), technology communications expenses (+50% YoY), and customer services-related expenses (+76% YoY).

In consequence of the higher growth in operating expense, relative to operating income, the Group’s cost-to-income rose by 200 basis points from 36% in FY’2019 to 38% in FY’2020. Therefore, profit before tax growth stood at 3% YoY from N231.71bn in FY’2019 to N238.09bn in FY’2020. Profit after tax grew by 2% YoY from N196.87bn to N201.44bn.

Asset Quality
The Group’s non-performing loan (NPL) ratio marginally improved from 6.53% in FY’2019 to 6.39% in FY’2020. Some efforts implemented by the Group to manage risk assets quality include the institution of hedges against exposures in the oil & gas sector, reduction of interest rate in the retail segment, and deferral repayment for SMEs. In addition, the Group implemented the CBN’s directive on a moratorium of one-year reduction in interest rate granted on all intervention funds.

The Group’s impairment charge on loans grew by 70% in FY’2020 due to the Group’s decision to increase the level of provisioning on one of its obligors due to worsening macroeconomic conditions on the obligor’s operating and financial conditions. Also, the exchange rate devaluation in the economy resulted in an uptick in impairment recognized on stage two and local currency loans.

Capital Adequacy Ratio
The Group’s CAR stood at 24.87% in FY’2020 from 28.88% in FY’2019. However, recognizing the full IFRS 9 impact, the Group’s CAR stood at 21.89% in FY’2020 from 22.37% in FY’2019. The slight decline in CAR reflected the impact of higher risk-weighted assets in FY’2020, given an expansion in the Group’s risk assets. The Group’s CAR was above the 15% regulatory minimum in FY’2020. The implication of a strong CAR is that the Group is well capitalised to take on additional risks.

Liquidity Ratio
The Group’s liquidity ratio (LR) closed at 39% in FY’2020 (FY’2019: 49%), above the 30% regulatory requirement. The Group maintained a 41% average LR during the year (FY’2019 average: 44%), despite the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic and increased CRR debits.

The Route To HoldC
The Group’s management affirmed that it is close to securing final regulatory approvals to establish a HoldCo structure. In our FY’2019 report titled ‘In Search of a New Growth Driver’, we maintained that the Group intends to change its focus and growth story for the next decade by playing the mobile payments, asset management, and pensions industries. According to the management, the Group intends to build an ecosystem where all of its customers’ needs are met. The Group aims to leverage its strong retail footprints to drive customer value. The management expects the Group to run as a HoldCo from H2’2021.

Valuation
We estimate a N37.03 fair value for the stock (previous: N50.03), which effectively implies a 4.98x justified price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio. The downward revision of our fair value estimate, despite an improved outlook of earnings, majorly resulted from a higher discount rate used in our fair value computation. Notably, the risk-free rate has risen from 4% as of the writing of our last earnings update in December 2020, to 11% as of the writing of this report.

We did not incorporate the HoldCo structure in our valuation due to limited information on the technicalities and transaction details of the exercise, amid ongoing efforts to get regulatory approvals. However, based on GTB’s track record and the exciting prospects of the new industries the Group intends to play in, we expect to see an overall improved integration and earnings growth for the Group. At the current market price, we believe that the stock offers a 22% total return (price return: 13%, dividend yield: 9%). Therefore, we maintain our BUY recommendation.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2021/03/31/gtbank-strong-balance-sheet-management-and-fx-revaluation-gains-drive-earnings/

Apple today updated Apple Maps with COVID-19 vaccination locations from VaccineFinder, a free, online service developed by Boston Children’s Hospital that provides the latest vaccine availability for those eligible at providers and pharmacies throughout the US.

Users can find nearby COVID-19 vaccination locations from the Search bar in Apple Maps by selecting COVID-19 Vaccines in the Find Nearby menu or by asking Siri, “Where can I get a COVID vaccination?”

The Apple Maps place card for each vaccine site will include the operating hours, address, phone numbers, and a link to the provider’s website, where Maps users can learn more about available vaccines and book appointments. The initial rollout includes more than 20,000 locations, with Apple adding more sites in the coming weeks.

Along with the data provided by VaccineFinder, healthcare providers, labs, or other businesses can submit information on COVID-19 testing or vaccination locations on the Apple Business Register page.

Once validated, Apple may display information about the testing or vaccination locations to people using Apple services such as Apple Maps.

The update is the latest effort from Apple to help users better navigate the pandemic and take the proper steps to protect their health. Apple Maps also features:

COVID-19 Testing Locations: Last year, Apple updated Apple Maps to display COVID-19 testing sites in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and the United States.

Local Business Updates: Apple Maps now displays COVID-19 modules on the business place cards for more than 4,400 locations, allowing retailers to communicate COVID-19-related information to their customers, like special shopping hours.

Siri Knowledge About COVID-19: In addition to helping users find nearby testing sites and vaccination locations, Siri can quickly identify outdoor dining options or provide a list of nearby restaurants offering takeout. Siri Audio Briefs help users receive the latest news and information about the pandemic through short podcasts from trusted news providers, and Siri can also provide guidance and resources from the CDC if asked, “How do I know if I have coronavirus?”

Additionally, Apple released a mobility data trends tool from Apple Maps to support the impactful work happening worldwide to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. This mobility data may provide helpful insights to local governments and health authorities, and may also be used as a foundation for new public policies by showing the change in volume of people driving, walking, or taking public transit in their communities.

Siri Knowledge About COVID-19: In addition to helping users find nearby testing sites and vaccination locations, Siri can quickly identify outdoor dining options or provide a list of nearby restaurants offering takeout. Siri Audio Briefs help users receive the latest news and information about the pandemic through short podcasts from trusted news providers, and Siri can also provide guidance and resources from the CDC if asked, “How do I know if I have coronavirus?”

Additionally, Apple released a mobility data trends tool from Apple Maps to support the impactful work happening worldwide to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. This mobility data may provide helpful insights to local governments and health authorities, and may also be used as a foundation for new public policies by showing the change in volume of people driving, walking, or taking public transit in their communities.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2021/03/30/apple-maps-now-displays-covid-19-vaccination-locations/

On March 25, the US House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee held a joint subcommittee hearing titled “Disinformation Nation: Social Media’s Role in Promoting Extremism and Misinformation.”

Mark Zuckerberg from Facebook, Sundar Pichai from Alphabet and its subsidiary Google, and Jack Dorsey from Twitter all appeared before the committee. And although this was the latest event in an ongoing legislative process that has brought tech executives to testify in front of Congress several times over the past couple of years, it was the first time since the riots on Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021.

The session was held online, which denied the politicians the grandeur of holding these hearings inside the US Capitol buildings. They looked awkward, staring into their webcams, while the tech executives appeared poised and well-framed. The entire process was embellished and theatrical, as politicians forced the executives to answer yes or no to leading questions, and those executives did their best to play out the clock and provide vague responses.

However, the hearing was also substantive: everyone involved went out of their way to demonstrate the actions they were taking to address the larger issue of rising extremism and proliferating misinformation. Here are five key takeaways from the hearing.

1. Politicians Are Eager to Show That They Are Taking Action to Regulate Big Tech

With a new administration in the White House and the Democrats in control of Congress, there is an eagerness to demonstrate to the voting public that something is being done to rein in big tech. Ohio Republican Representative Bill Johnson even noted that he thought the hearing marked a new relationship between the technology companies on the stand and the government.

During the hearing, while politicians certainly used the opportunity to question the three executives, they also took time to preview their own planned legislation or regulatory ideas. Democratic Representative Peter Welch from Vermont promoted a dedicated regulatory agency that could develop relevant expertise within government — an idea that Mark Zuckerberg responded positively to.

Anna Eshoo, a Democratic representative from California, warned the tech executives that a revamped version of the Protecting Americans from Dangerous Algorithms Act is in the works, as is a bill that would ban surveillance-based advertising as a business model.

New York Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke noted her plans to introduce the Civil Rights Modernization Act of 2021, which will target discriminatory advertising and algorithmic bias on digital platforms. These were just some of the initiatives that were previewed or highlighted. Across the board, politicians worked to emphasize to the executives present — but perhaps more so to the public — that they were finally ready to take action.

2. Tech Companies Continued to Assert That They Are Already Doing Everything They Can
Despite ongoing hearings and the countless violent or extremist events that have been propelled, in part, by social media, big tech platforms are eager to tell anyone who will listen that they’re doing everything they can and, in particular, that they are working with trustworthy, external, expert partners. Versions of this response were repeated by all three executives when they were presented with questions regarding their efforts to mitigate the spread of disinformation.

Facebook emphasized their content oversight board, and Zuckerberg boasted that Facebook removes over a billion accounts per year for being fake or for violating their terms of service. When asked, Zuckerberg also indicated that Facebook has technology that can identify young users who lie about their age in order to sign up for the company’s products.

Zuckerberg also repeatedly called for the establishment of standards, whether in the form of national privacy legislation or to deal with bias and discrimination. This call might be interpreted as an attempt to reinforce big tech’s universal claim that the companies are doing everything they can, and will continue to do so, by adhering to any standards that are set by the government (or industry).

3. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act Is Due for Reform

Many of the changes proposed at the hearing focused on reforming Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. This is the decades-old law that has allowed digital platforms to avoid responsibility or liability for the content on their platforms. While politicians are eager to tinker with this law, it is, in some ways, the foundation upon which the US internet industry is built. As Mark Zuckerberg articulated in his opening submission to the hearing, Facebook is open to regulatory change regarding unlawful content, with some caveats:

We believe Congress should consider making platforms’ intermediary liability protection for certain types of unlawful content conditional on companies’ ability to meet best practices to combat the spread of this content. Instead of being granted immunity, platforms should be required to demonstrate that they have systems in place for identifying unlawful content and removing it. Platforms should not be held liable if a particular piece of content evades its detection — that would be impractical for platforms with billions of posts per day — but they should be required to have adequate systems in place to address unlawful content.

Such a system would only be viable with transparency reports that detail what companies are doing to moderate content and enforce their policies.

While both the politicians and the company executives agreed that small companies should be treated differently, the general consensus was that large companies should be required to have moderation capabilities. Facebook, in particular, wants a law that would allow companies to actively moderate without being liable — activity they’re already actively engaged in.

4. Politicians Spent Considerable Time Highlighting Social Media’s Impact on Children
While many Republican representatives focused on the perceived political bias of the algorithms on these digital platforms, an even larger repeating theme was concern regarding the impact of social media on children. They directed many questions and accusations at the tech executives regarding the dangerous and addictive services and products on their platforms and their detrimental impacts on children’s well-being.
Asked outright if they make addictive products, the execs said no — but they also admitted that they restricted their use among their own children.

Republicans were not alone in expressing concern about children’s welfare in relation to the digital platforms. Politicians from both parties indicated an interest in legislation that would increase measures to protect children as well as introduce fines for companies who failed to comply with such measures.

5. As Expected, the Tech Companies Proposed Techno-Solutions for Oversight and Transparency
A number of representatives expressed their beliefs about how some of the platforms’ algorithms work, but few took the time to actually ask about or explore the need for algorithmic transparency.

Twitter’s Jack Dorsey did, however, speak to this issue. He repeatedly promoted a “protocol approach” rather than a government approach to regulation. According to Dorsey’s vision, by way of open-source technology and a transparent process, the industry could, in the future, be both decentralized and subject to scrutiny from government or the public.

Dorsey pointed to Twitter’s Bluesky initiative, which is attempting to create decentralized open-source social media protocols, as well as the Birdwatch program, which is a community-based approach to misinformation and fact-checking.

Perhaps Dorsey is anticipating antitrust actions and a decentralized social media ecosystem, where interoperability is both mandated and necessary.

:Jesse Hirsh

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2021/03/30/five-things-to-know-about-the-hearing-on-extremism-and-misinformation/

In furtherance of its commitment to promoting oral health and hygiene, leading consumer goods company, Procter & Gamble (P&G) Nigeria, through its Oral- B brand, partnered with the Federal Ministry of Health to celebrate this year’s World Oral Health Day through community outreach in the Jiwa Community in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

The outreach will offer oral health awareness, free dental checks, and a month’s supply of Oral B toothpaste and toothbrushes to members of the Jiwa Community.

The long-standing partnership between P&G, Oral B, and the Federal Ministry of Health strengthens Oral-B’s commitment to healthier, stronger teeth and Procter & Gamble’s purpose of touching and improving the lives of people in the communities where it operates.

Commenting on the initiative, the P&G Senior Director for Africa, Global Government Relations & Public Policy, Dr. Mrs. Temitope Iluyemi, revealed that Procter & Gamble is excited to continue the partnership with the Federal Ministry of Health to promote oral health and hygiene in Nigeria, stating that the Oral B brand has over the years partnered with dentists across the country to elevate the role of oral health of over 10 million Nigerians through its Mobile Dental Clinic Program.

“Oral hygiene should not be overlooked, most especially in terms of its effects on the general health and nutrition of people. Effective oral care reduces infection and promotes health, thus the need to drive awareness. The World Oral Health Day presents an opportunity to amplify this oral health drive which our brand has actively driven through the year.” Dr. Mrs. Iluyemi said. She further encouraged Nigerians not to underrate the effect of poor oral hygiene as it can negatively affect confidence and social skills. “Oral health is very essential to human’s general health and wellbeing”, she explained.

While commending P&G for its efforts in promoting oral health, the Director of Dentistry Division of the Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Bola Alonge, in her remarks noted that “proper oral health practices are important to ensure good general health. A lot of people have not had dental checks. As a result, we need to leverage this World Oral Health Day to drive oral health sensitization at the grassroots especially in areas with limited access to quality health care.

She added: “This is why we partnered with P&G and Oral-B on this community outreach where dentists will be available to conduct free oral health check for community members who will also a month supply of Oral-B toothpaste and Oral B toothbrush. The outreach will also include oral health training for the community leaders and other members”.

As a company, Procter & Gamble has reached millions of Nigerians through its citizenship programs. The Oral B Mobile Dental Clinic Program is committed to reaching 10 million more Nigerians with free dental checks over the next four years. Also, the P&G’s Children Safe Drinking Water program (CSDW) has provided hundreds of million liters of safe drinking water in Nigeria helping to prevent possible death and disease from contaminated water.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2021/03/29/pg-oral-b-partners-federal-ministry-of-health-to-provide-access-to-oral-health-care/

Nigerian-born UFC middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya has been dropped as BMW brand ambassador.

Brand Spur Nigeria learnt that Israel Adesanya who was to be unveiled on Monday, March 29, 2021, as a brand ambassador to German vehicle manufacturer, BMW was shelved following his rape comment aimed at middleweight contender, Kevin Holland earlier this week.

Replying to recent insulting comments made by UFC Vegas 22 headliner, Holland on a since-deleted Instagram story, Adesanya said; “Bro, I will f*cking rape you“.

In a statement released to Herald, BMW said; “Due to the comments made by an athlete (Israel Adesanya) online, we have reviewed our pending association with said athlete and we have decided not to push forward with a specific ambassador for the brand at this time in New Zealand.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for sport in New Zealand, Grant Robertson addressed the recent comment made by Adesanya, detailing how flippant comments about rape should never be made.

“We have to take rape seriously, it’s not an issue that anyone should be making jokes or flippant comments about at all,” Robertson said during an interview with Radio New Zealand. “I’m sure Israel (Adesanya) understands that, I believe he has deleted the tweet (sic) in question. It will be up to the UFC as to what they do.“

In a statement released via his official Twitter account, Adesanya apologised for the comment on Instagram.

“Last weekend fight talk escalated to a point in which I crossed the line,” Adesanya wrote on his official Twitter. “I understand the gravity of this word and how it can affect and hurt other people apart from my opponent, although that was NEVER my intention. I am still to growing (sic) under the spotlight, and I take this as a lesson to be selective with words under pressure.“

As of writing, the UFC has yet to address the comment made by Adesanya, and it’s currently unknown if he will face any disciplinary action.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2021/03/27/bmw-drops-ufc-star-israel-adesanya-as-brand-ambassador-over-rape-comment/

Karl Toriola, a Non-Executive Director at MTN Nigeria has doled out a total sum of ₦108,223,641.00 (average) to purchase additional 679,370 stocks of the telecoms service provider.

This is according to a recent statement, signed by the firm’s Secretary, Uto Ukpanah.
The transactions occurred in Eleven tranches, with an average price of ₦159.3 and an aggregate volume of 679,370 units on the 24th of March 2020.

Breakdown of the transaction
1,000 Ordinary Shares at N158.80 per share
55,000 Ordinary Shares at N158.80 per share
44,000 Ordinary Shares at N158.80 per share
11,000 Ordinary Shares at N158.80 per share
47,504 Ordinary Shores at N158.80 per share
15 Ordinary Shares at N158.80 per share
400 Ordinary Shares at N158.80 per share
100,000 Ordinary Shores at N160.00 per share
41,081 Ordinary Shares at N160 00 per share
79,370 Ordinary Shares atN160 per share
100,000 Ordinary Shares at N160 00 per share
200,000 Ordinary Shares at N160.00 per share

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2021/03/27/karl-toriola-acquires-shares-of-mtn-nigeria-worth-%e2%82%a6108-2m/

26 MARCH 2021: FCMB Group Plc announced its Audited Group Results for the full-year ended 31 December 2020.

The gross earnings and profit after income tax recorded by FCMB for the year ended 31 December 2020 was N199.44billion and N181.25billion respectively.

The Directors of the financial group affirm that the FCMB is strategically poised for continued growth and development.

Further Earnings Analysis by Brand Spur revealed the following:

Gross revenue of ₦199.4 billion for the twelve months ended December 2020, was a 10% growth from ₦181.3 billion for the same period the prior year.
Net interest income rose by 20% Year-on-Year from ₦76.0 billion, for the full year 2019, to ₦90.8
billion for the full year 2020.
Non-interest income of 37.8 billion, for the twelve months ended December 2020, a 9% Year-on-Year increase from ₦34.8 billion for the same period the prior year.
Operating expenses rose 10% Year-on-Year to ₦84.3 billion for the full year 2020.
Net impairment loss on financial assets increased by 62% Year-on-Year to ₦22.3 billion, for the twelve months ended December 2020, from ₦13.7 billion for the same period the prior year.
Profit after tax (PAT) of ₦19.6 billion, for the full-year 2020, rose 13% Year-on-Year.

Financial Position:

Loans and advances grew, 15% Year-on-Year and 4% Quarter-on-Quarter to ₦822.8 billion in December 2020.
Total assets increased 23% Year-on-Year and 1% Quarter-on-Quarter to ₦2.06 trillion in December 2020.
Customer deposits rose by 33% Year-on-Year and 5% Quarter-on-Quarter to ₦1.3 trillion in December 2020.
Assets Under Management grew by 23% Year-on-Year to ₦495.2 billion in December 2020.

FY20 Key Ratios:

Capital Adequacy Ratio – 17.7%.
Liquidity Ratio – 34.2%.
Non-Performing Loans (NPL) to Total Loans Ratio – 3.3%.
Cost to Income Ratio – 65.6%.
Net Interest Margin – 8.1%.
Earnings per share – 98 kobo
Proposed dividend

The Board of Directors recommended a cash dividend of 15 kobo per issued and paid-up ordinary share for the year ended 31 December 2020 (2019:14kobo). This is subject to approval at the Annual General Meeting. Payment of dividends is subject to withholding tax at a rate of 10% in the hand of recipients.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2021/03/26/fcmb-reports-31-1-rise-in-profit-to-%e2%82%a619-6b-in-2020-proposes-15k-final-dividend/

According to the recent labour force data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s unemployment situation continues to worsen with the unemployment rate standing at 33.3% at the end of Q4-2020. Unemployment has been steadily rising over the years as efforts to curtail it have proved abortive.

The recent Covid-19 pandemic has further exacerbated the unemployment levels with fiscal and monetary measures implemented to support the economy inadequate to curb job losses.

In July 2020, the Federal government approved the creation of a N75.0bn Nigerian Youth Investment Fund (NYIF) to support enterprise among 68 million young Nigerian between the ages of 18 and 35. The Federal Government also announced plans to initiate a N2.0trn stimulus package and survival fund for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to stay afloat during the Covid-19 crisis.

However, the data released by NBS shows that this age group has the highest unemployment rate even though a lot of interventionist schemes have been directed towards that age group. This clearly explains that like many fiat-backed interventions, they are inadequate as long as structural issues remain.

To truly resolve the unemployment situation, we reckon several structural issues need to be resolved.

First, a revamp of policy frameworks (Regulatory and Economic) that influence the business environment must be implemented. In addition, the institutions designed to implement these policies must be strengthened to adequately enforce them and prevent volatile policy backflips.

Furthermore, under-tapped sectors like mining should be opened for private sector participation. These measures will help galvanise private sector investments and drive the establishment of business which ultimately leads to improved job creation and accelerated economic growth.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2021/03/26/structural-changes-needed-to-improve-unemployment/

According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, Xiaomi and Oppo, two leading Chinese OEM’s, are rising rapidly by working closely with UK operators, O2, Vodafone, EE/BT, and Three.

The two OEM’s are expected to win high-single-digit volume share in Q1 2021.

Xiaomi and Oppo Smartphone Share in UK Operator in Q4 2020 (Graphic: Business Wire)
Woody OH, Director at Strategy Analytics, said, “Xiaomi and Oppo are cementing their smartphone market share in UK, being no.3 and no.4 OEM ahead of Huawei.

“The two Chinese vendors are prioritizing shipping their 4G and 5G-capable smartphones directly to operators in the UK. Operators are ramping up 5G service coverage across the country and prioritizing the sourcing of price-competitive 5G smartphones while Huawei is out of the game.”

Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, noted, “The UK smartphone market was dominated by Apple, Samsung and Huawei until 2019. However, Xiaomi and Oppo have been very quick to seize on the opportunity presented by Huawei’s geopolitical problems. UK operators need a mix of innovative OEMs to provide affordable high quality 4G/5G devices to support the transition to the next generation 5G technology.”

Rajeev Nair, Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics, noted, “Xiaomi and Oppo achieved mid-single-digit share at each operator that they are working with in Q4 2020. We expect their share to get up to high-single-digits in Q1 and Q2 2021.”

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2021/03/26/xiaomi-oppo-set-to-capture-third-and-fourth-spots-in-uk-smartphones/

Water security is critical to building resilient communities and economic empowerment across Africa. As part of its week-long celebration of World Water Day (March 22), The Coca-Cola Foundation (TCCF) announced the achievement of the Replenish Africa Initiative’s (RAIN)current goal to improve access to clean water for 6 million people.

RAIN, launched in 2009, is TCCF’s flagship clean water program in Africa contributing to helping countries across the continent achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals on clean water and sanitation (SDG 6).

Today’s 6 million person achievement is the result of a collective effort from over 300 international and local public, private and civil society partners. As part of the celebrations for World Water Day 2021, RAIN partners gathered virtually today for a panel discussion to mark the achievement of the program and share best practices for replication from the program.

“RAIN is a testament to the power of collective action,” said Bea Perez, Chair and President, The Coca-Cola Foundation. “Working with our partners, RAIN’s transformative impact can be felt today in 4,000 African communities. This program drives impact for the Sustainable Development Goals and our focus on People, Communities, and the Environment.”

Over the course of the past decade, RAIN has improved access to clean water for communities, schools, and clinics across 41 African countries as well as enhanced access to hygiene and promoted better hygiene behaviors. The program has also enabled the economic empowerment of people by creating opportunities for employment, entrepreneurship, and skills generation. In addition, RAIN has helped to protect critical watersheds, supported several African utilities in coping with the rapidly growing water demand in cities, and delivered essential hygiene items and personal protective equipment to help slow the spread of COVID-19.

RAIN has developed a number of important learnings and recommendations, including:

● Emphasize partnerships with urban and peri-urban utilities to help increase their capacity to better serve Africa’s expanding urban environments;

● Accelerate integrated water resources management efforts to decrease stress on food production, water supply and sanitation services;

● Enhance source protection for priority watersheds that serve the drinking water needs of millions of Africans;

● Address the gender gap and focusing on the needs of women who play a critical role in community resilience and are uniquely empowered by WASH access;

● Improve the collection, accessibility, sharing and use of data to monitor WASH services, improve performance, planning and decision making;

● Support civil society and communities to help build resilience to water-related climate change impacts.

“Africa is experiencing the highest rate of urban growth globally and is home to 21 of the world’s 30 fastest-growing cities,” said Bruno Pietracci, President for The Coca-Cola Company’s Africa operating unit.

“Africa is also more vulnerable to climate change than any other region. The Coca-Cola Foundation is committed to working with communities and governments to enhance climate change adaptation and help address the challenges that urbanization creates for the delivery of clean water and sanitation throughout the continent.”

The Coca-Cola Foundation is the global philanthropic arm of The Coca-Cola Company. Since its inception in 1984, the Foundation has given back more than $1 billion to enable the empowerment of women, enhance communities, protect the environment and educate scholars around the world

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2021/03/25/rain-positively-impacting-6-million-lives-through-improved-clean-water-access-sanitation-across-continent/

Dangote Cement Plc. has obtained approval from its Board of Directors to access the Capital Market to support business growth and maximize available sources of its debt funding.

Dangote Cement Plc. is Nigeria’s largest listed entity by market capitalization on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, as well as Sub-Saharan Africa’s leading cement producer, with a combined installed capacity of 48.6Mta across its operations in 10 African countries.

The Company has submitted an application to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the registration of a bond issuance programme.

Subsequent to obtaining regulatory approvals, the Company intends to explore its medium to long-term debt funding options through the debt capital market, subject to favourable market conditions. When raised, the proposed funding will be used for capital expenditure of the Company’s expansion projects, short term debt refinancing, and working capital requirements.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2021/03/25/dangote-cement-contemplates-debt-funding-options-under-planned-300bn-bond-issuance-program/

*Software solution for network programmability enables communications service providers to quickly design and deliver innovative 5G services to consumers and enterprises

*Reduces complexity in network policy management

*Delivers up to 70 percent savings in policy configuration operational expenditures


Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) has launched a new network programmability tool, called 5G Core Policy Studio, to enable communications service providers (CSPs) to more easily capture 5G revenue through offering differentiation. The tool handles the central management of all core network policies and is fully integrated with Ericsson’s dual-mode 5G Core.

The 5G Core Policy Studio tool is a central provisioning engine that works at the core of the network. It enables access and control of all policies that manage different 5G and 4G services through one easy-to-use graphical user interface (GUI).

This ability allows communications service providers to dynamically configure innovative services within network slices for consumers and enterprise customers and tailor those offerings to specific user needs and network circumstances.

Ericsson testing shows that the tool can deliver savings of up to 70 percent in policy configuration operational expenditures by simplifying the design and configuration activities compared to similar network configuration execution without the tool.

Monica Zethzon, Head of Solution Area Cloud Packet Core, Ericsson, says: “Working at the core of 5G evolution, we see that 5G is a software game. Through our software, we make networks smarter because that in turn enables smart business. Smart networks are key for enabling communications service providers to offer customized services to consumers and enterprises.

With our 5G Core Policy Studio, they will be able to provide tailored connectivity services across their customer base. Ericsson’s 5G Core Policy Studio is a network programmability tool to adapt service performance depending on conditions such as the type of subscription, time of day, service area or device location.”

Andy Hicks, the Principal Analyst, GlobalData, says: “Ericsson 5G Core Policy Studio builds on the company’s strengths in converged policy control and feature support by introducing unified control of all policy enforcement mechanisms as well a new network programmability tool. GlobalData has assigned Ericsson’s policy control products a Leader ranking.

Integrated with these products, Ericsson 5G Core Policy Studio should help operators to monetize 4G and 5G services and network slices, by speeding innovation and adjusting network service characteristics both granularly and dynamically.”

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2021/03/23/ericsson-launches-5g-core-policy-studio-to-make-networks-smarter/

The global smartphone Image sensor market recorded total revenue of $15 billion in CY 2020, according to the Strategy Analytics Handset Component Technologies service report.

Strategy Analytics’ latest research report “Smartphone Image Sensor Market Share Q4 2020: Sony Takes Top Spot But Sees Drop in Share” finds that the overall smartphone image sensor market experienced revenue growth of 13 percent year-over-year in 2020.

Sony managed to take the first position in the smartphone image sensor market with 46 percent revenue share followed by Samsung System LSI and OmniVision Technologies in CY 2020.

The top-three vendors captured almost 85 percent revenue share in the global smartphone image sensor market in 2020. The major CIS vendors drove the sales of high-resolution image sensors to customers.

Jeffrey Mathews, Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics says, “The pandemic did little to dent the image sensor market growth as CIS vendors observed strong demand from smartphone OEMs who aggressively adopted high-resolution sensors and higher sensor count across smartphone tiers in 2020. Samsung, OmniVision and SK Hynix continued to take share from Sony as the vendor lost key business owing to sanctions on Huawei.

‘We expect Sony’s market dominance will be increasingly threatened by the rising competition in the smartphone image sensor market.”

Stephen Entwistle, Vice President of the Strategic Technologies Practice at Strategy Analytics commented, “The demand momentum for smartphone CIS, driven by the expansion of multiple cameras and superior photography capabilities in smartphones, will propel the image sensor market growth. However, the semiconductor shortages could create challenges in meeting the CIS demand.”

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2021/03/23/sony-takes-top-spot-in-leading-smartphone-vendors-in-2020-report/

Let’s be completely honest, there is no need to look too hard to find reasons that explain why forex trading has become so popular across the globe. The pandemic was bad news for almost every industry around the world, including the forex markets. However, even when the market was depreciating it still offered many opportunities for traders to make money. Moreover, the forex market is now rising and gives a number of reasons to the investors and traders to look at the forex market carefully for money-making opportunities.

Moreover, it is not that difficult to enter the forex markets as a trader. For instance, the Cayman Islands is quickly becoming one of the biggest and very famous offshore financial center. With the right broker, you can start trading even with a small investment. However, we suggest that you always choose a broker or a trading platform that is licensed in order to avoid frauds and scams. Here is a list of forex brokers licensed in Cayman. There is no room for doubt when it comes to the popularity or competitiveness of the forex markets, however, you might be wondering what has caused this increased interest in the forex markets. Here are 3 reasons that should answer that question for you.

1. It can be a lucrative side gig

As this is known as the digital age, there are now many different ways to earn a little extra money. The kind of work that you can do can range from selling your products directly to customers online to creating a money-spinning blog or even a YouTube channel. You could also add forex trading to this list. Recent technological advancements can help make things easier and simpler for you. For instance, with the help of a forex trading app, you can perform trades with just a mobile phone device and an internet connection. Anyone can try their hand by investing in the currency.

Not only has the forex markets become more accessible over the years, but many online brokerage sites and platforms have also made it easier for traders to perform trades with the help of different tools. It has never been this easy to make profits through forex trading. More importantly, many platforms and
brokers offer a forex demo account that the users can access without having to invest any money. A demo account will simulate real-time market conditions and allows users to try their strategies in an entirely risk-free environment.

2. Learn within a community of trading

Not everyone has heard of social trading. However, you should know that the forex market is now home to a huge bustling digital community that’s packed with considerable insight, experience, and know-how.

Moreover, there are even dedicated social trading platforms where the traders can work together, share trading strategies. For instance, someone who knows more about the markets can explain how leverage is so risky. Experienced and skilful traders can share their experiences and offer help to less experienced
traders in the world of forex trading. This is great news for anyone who is looking to start trading. Inexperienced traders can take advantage and act smart as they take on the forex markets.

3. Allows you to make money even in a depreciating market

Another very important advantage of trading forex that you should remember is that it revolves around the status of currency as a derivative asset class. This allows traders to effectively trade currency pairings without becoming the owner of the underlying asset, creating a situation where users can speculate on price movements and make a profit even when the value of the market is declining.

Needless to say, this plays a huge role in the growing appeal of the forex market. There are more opportunities for individuals to make profits regardless of the market conditions or what anyone else might say.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2021/03/23/3-reasons-why-people-are-becoming-interested-in-forex-trading/

The Nigeria Bottling Company (NBC) has been dragged to court for alleged trademark infringement on its energy drink, Predator, with a mark similar to the well-liked market leader, a product of Rite Foods Limited.

As contained in the ThisDay and Guardian newspapers editions of Friday, 19th of March, 2021, contempt proceedings have been commenced against the managing director of NBC by Rite Foods Limited at Federal High Court, in koji, Lagos.

In the suit No: FHC/L/CS/92/2021, the plaintiff, Rite Food Limited, filed a motion ex parte of an interim injunction against the defendant, NBC, restraining it from further promoting or using any sales promotion material for its Predator energy drink in a manner that infringes or passes off or that is capable of infringing or passing off the plaintiff’s Fearless energy drink until the interlocutory application for an injunction is determined.

The infringement is against the holder’s right of Rite Foods Limited, as the exclusive owner of the mark for identification of its products within the country.

Investigation reveals that the Rite Foods’ Fearless energy drinks, which consist of the Red Berry and Classic brands, were launched into the Nigerian market on June 15 and 16, 2017, respectively, and has gained a wider market share before NBC’s Predator, which made entrant in June 2020.

Rite Foods pointed out that with the infringement by NBC, consumers are likely to assume (mistakenly) that the aforementioned energy drinks in the case are from one source.
According to it, the degree of similarity between the lion symbol on its Fearless brands and NBC’s Predator energy drink is high, and that since both compete in the same market spectrum, the mark is likely to cause confusion in the minds of consumers, about the source or sponsorship of the brands offered under the defendant’s mark.

Further proceedings for the case at the Federal High Court are slated for March 25, 2021.

However, while the Predator brand is struggling to gain acceptance among consumers, Rite Foods’ Fearless energy brands have attained a very high market share of the lucrative beverage market, cutting across the different demographics, mainly the youth segment.

The Fearless brands provide consumers with limitless benefits and contain high-quality ingredients.

The energy drinks contain Vitamin B6, a water-soluble nutrient that is part of the vitamin B family, which supports adrenal function, help calm and maintain a healthy nervous system, and are necessary for key metabolic processes. Also, included is Vitamin B12 which is essential for building blood cells and maintaining healthy nerve cells in the body.

Few cases of trademark infringements in the country were those of Nabisco Inc., v Allied Biscuits Company Limited in 1998, where the trademark RITZ was the issue before the court.

Allied Biscuits first registered the mark eight months before Nabisco, and the court held against the appellant, Nabisco, on the premise that it has not used the mark sufficiently to acquire a reputation for the mark in Nigeria, that its intention is to destabilise the Nigerian market and her economy.

Also on October 18, 1993, Pfizer dragged Iyke Merchandise to Court for infringing on its trademark, Combatrin Plus, with the mark, Combatinrein, which was likely to confuse consumers.

The plaintiff’s (Pfizer) action for injunction, order of delivery up for the destruction of the infringing product (Combatinrein) and general damages succeeded.



SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2021/03/23/nbc-in-lawsuit-over-its-predator-energy-drink-trademark-infringement-allegation-2/

Rolls-Royce in partnership with Code First Girls is hosting a free Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on artificial intelligence and machine learning that is open to anyone.

With record subscriptions of over 500 people, the one-hour MooC launches on March 25th and follows on from The importance of diversity in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning’ podcast released earlier in March (Spotify​, Apple​).

Manisha Mistry, Portfolio Director, Digital Culture and Collaborations at Rolls-Royce, said: “This MOOC is a key element of our partnership with Code First Girls and a further indication of our journey at Rolls-Royce to become the world’s leading industrial technology. Diversity and inclusion are key to that and part of our work with Code First Girls is to ensure opportunities are available to women who want to get into tech.

“This course will give participants a brilliant introductory view of Artificial Intelligence and its importance in organisations such as Rolls-Royce. Just as importantly, they’ll also get access to our R2 Data Labs community to collaborate, practice and share ideas as they learn.”

R2 Data Labs has also just taken on three interns as a result of the Code First Girls partnership. Rebecca Hallows, Hanan Moalin and Isabel Scavetta have all joined from non-technical backgrounds having crossed over into tech from finance, engineering or humanities studies.

Jonathan Hewitt, Growth and Marketing Manager, Code First Girls, said: “Rolls-Royce’s commitment to an inclusive and diverse workforce, coupled with its ethical commitment to technological innovation in next-generation manufacturing and AI applications make it an ideal partner for Code First Girls.

“We are excited to have Rolls-Royce onboard, among over a dozen visionary tech companies, to deliver coding education and career opportunities to women across the world. Together, we will teach 40,000 women to code by the end of 2021, and I’m sure we will achieve many further milestones in the years to come.”

Participants can register for the machine learning and artificial intelligence course here. It builds on the free-to-access Helping You Prepare programme run by Rolls-Royce and its partners, which launched in May 2020 and has seen more than 30,000 subscribers take advantage of the world-class digital training that Rolls-Royce uses for its own digital transformation.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2021/03/23/rolls-royce-and-code-first-girls-launch-free-artificial-intelligence-course/

Nigerian Breweries Plc announces the commissioning of a 663.6 kWp solar plant at its factory in Ibadan, Nigeria.

Brand Spur Nigeria learnt that the Solar plant will be managed by Crossboundary Energy, an investment firm that focuses on solar projects and facilities.

This fully financed solar Power Purchase Agreement with Crossboundary Energy is the first of its kind for a major Nigerian business customer.

The solar plant is expected to supply approximately 800 MWh to the brewery annually, at a significant discount to their current cost of power, while reducing the site’s CO2 emissions by over 10,000 tonnes over the lifespan of the plant.'

Cross-boundary Energy will operate the rooftop facility on behalf of Nigerian Breweries as part of a 15-year solar services agreement. Under the agreement, Nigerian Breweries will only pay for solar power produced, receiving a single monthly bill that incorporates all maintenance, monitoring, insurance, and financing costs.

This agreement is set to change the dependence on the distribution company in Ibadan to supply electricity for factory use.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2021/03/22/nigerian-breweries-commissions-new-solar-plant-in-ibadan/

The National Economic Council (NEC) has inaugurated the sub-national ease of doing business report.

The inauguration was performed at the virtual NEC presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday in Abuja.

Mrs Jumoke Oduwole, Special Adviser to the President on Ease of Doing Business, briefed State House correspondents after the virtual NEC anchored from the Presidential Villa.

“It is a pleasure to be briefing you today on the launch of the sub-national Ease of Doing Business report; it is been long awaited; the report was launched at the NEC today.

“And basically, this is a survey and you will recall that PEBEC has been on a nationwide tour since 2019 called iteration; where we met with medium-size enterprises and got a lot of anecdotal information.

“So, we decided to carry out an empirical survey; it was carried out by KPMG; the methodology framework had earlier being approved by NEC as far back as 2018.

“We have four homegrown indicator areas on which the survey is based: Infrastructure and security, transparency and access to information, the regulatory environment and skills and labour readiness in each state and the FCT.’’

According to her, the objective of the report is to provide a status report of the state’s business climate and to provide a baseline on the business climate of each state.

She said that it was on the basis of the report that the Ease of Doing Business agenda at the sub-national level was built.

Oduwole said it was a coordinated agenda status and to showcase stories of SMEs across regions and states across the country as there were successes and challenges.

“We will showcase some of those; and then, it serves as an information resource to businesses and investors alike.

“If you want to move your business from one part of the country to another part of the country, you want to know what people are available in terms of employability and this report will give you a fair idea.

“You want to know transportation cost; electricity provisions, supply; this report will give you a fair idea.

“It is also going to help states as they prepare for their sub-national World Bank Ease of Doing Business ranking which is done once every four years.’’

She said that the last edition was in 2018; hence the states were ready and collaborated with PEBEC.

The special adviser said that some of the key opportunities for change that were identified had been collated.

She said that the council would work with state governments starting from April to create implementation roadmaps that would be implemented.

“The governors have unanimously accepted the findings of the report and the reform states’ reform champion; each state has a reform champion and many states have already inaugurated their Ease of Doing Business Councils.

“In case of Nasarawa, it is chaired by the governor, himself; some other states are chaired by the deputy governor; usually at that high level.

“So, the Ease of Doing Business Councils report to the states’ executive councils and they implement the report just like PEBEC and FEC; so, the system is replicated across the country,’’ she said.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2021/03/19/nec-inaugurates-sub-national-ease-of-doing-business-report/

The Nigerian equities market traded on a bullish note amid renewed interest in Banking shares. At the close of market proceedings today, the All-Share Index advanced by 54bps to close at 38,914.84. Similarly, the market capitalization added N109.20bn to settle at N20.36tn. Consequently, the year-to-date performance moderated to -3.37%.

Across sectors, performance was mixed as 2 indices advanced while 3 declined. The Banking and the Industrial indices went up by 4.40% and 0.16% respectively on the back of bargain hunting in the shares of ZENITH BANK (7.32%), GUARANTY (6.43%) and WAPCO (2.73%).

On the flip side, bearish sentiments dominated the Insurance (-0.78%), Oil & Gas (-0.13%) and Consumer Goods (-0.24%) indices following losses in WAPIC (-9.09%), OANDO (-3.04%) and HONYFLOUR (-5.60%)

Investor sentiment as measured by the market breath expands to 1.83x arising from 22 advancers and 12 decliners. A significant improvement was noted in the activity level as both volume and value of transactions surged by 7.27x and 1.18x respectively. A total of 1.47 billion units of shares worth N5.86bn was traded in 4,040 deals.

Fixed Income Market

The yields in the bond market moved higher on the back of selloffs across shorter maturities. Notably, the yields on the FGN-MAR-2027 and MAR-2034 advanced by 2bps and 7bps respectively.

At the NTB market, the yields on the 91-day advanced by 132bps to 2.26%. The yields on the 184-day and 364-day maturities however remain stable at 3.60% and 4.16%

Market Snapshot

*Bulls Staged a Comeback Today at the Equities Market…ASI Gained 54bps
*Local Bond Yields Maintain Upward Trajectory
*US Stocks Retreat Amid Treasury Yields Angst
*Oil Extends Losing Streak with Markets Shaken by Inflation Risk
*Naira was stable against the USD at the Parallel Market to Close at N485/$

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2021/03/19/86509/

Nestlé today announced the roll-out of chocolate made exclusively with the cocoa fruit, introducing Incoa, a 70% dark chocolate bar under its Les Recettes de L’Atelier brand.

The launch brings the cocoa pulp-sweetened chocolate to a wide audience across several countries. It will appear on shelves in retail in France and the Netherlands with other European markets to follow.

Incoa is made entirely from cocoa fruit, not adding any refined sugar. In 2019, Nestlé was the first to announce the development of this revolutionary approach and then launch it with KitKat in Japan.

Louise Barrett, Head of the Nestlé Confectionery Product Technology Center in York, said: “We are proud to be able to develop and produce a chocolate at-scale using only the cocoa fruit. This breakthrough innovation allows us to deliver great-tasting dark chocolate, while also integrating agricultural side-streams into our value chain, a key priority for our sustainability agenda.”

Nestlé leveraged its in-house chocolate expertise to develop a patented natural approach that allows it to extract the pulp and produce dark chocolate that captures the pulp’s intrinsic sweetness and texture. The unique approach enables the company to produce Incoa in high quantities with no compromise on taste, texture and quality.

The cocoa fruit contains cocoa beans and cocoa pulp. The pulp, which makes up around 10% of the fruit surrounds the beans and is soft, sweet and white in color. Some of the pulp is used in the fermentation of the cocoa beans after they are harvested, but a significant proportion is usually discarded. In some countries the pulp is commercialized as juice, or frozen and used as an ingredient in ice cream and other food products.

Alexander von Maillot, Head of Confectionery at Nestlé, said: “Incoa is an authentic, pure cocoa experience. People are looking for something that little bit different and more sustainable from their chocolate. The fact that Incoa is made from the cocoa fruit and nothing else means it cuts waste and brings additional value to the cocoa sector.”

The cocoa beans in Incoa are sourced in West Africa from Nestlé Cocoa Plan farms certified by Rainforest Alliance.

The cocoa pulp for Incoa is currently sourced from Brazil from farms that are part of the Nestlé Cocoa Plan and Nestlé is working on expanding the sourcing of the pulp across Cocoa Plan farms globally.

Nestlé is currently working with cocoa cooperatives and other partners in West Africa to test how cocoa pulp production could be commercialized there. That includes testing collection and further treatment of the pulp.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2021/03/18/100-cocoa-fruit-nestle-starts-wider-roll-out-of-new-chocolate/

A total of 204,601,313 subscribers were active on voice as against 205,252,058 in Q3 2020. This represented a -0.32% decrease in voice subscriptions Quarter-on-Quarter.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed this in its latest Telecoms data for Q4 2020 report released on Thursday.

Similarly, a total of 154,301,195 subscribers were active on the internet as against 151,512,122 in Q3 2020. This represented a 1.84% growth in internet subscriptions QoQ.

Further Breakdown:

*Lagos State has the highest number of subscribers in terms of active voice per State in Q4 2020 and is closely followed by Kano and Ogun States
*Bayelsa and Ebonyi States have the least number of subscribers.
*Lagos State has the highest number of subscribers in terms of active internet per State in Q4 2020 and is closely followed by Kano and Ogun States respectively
*Bayelsa and Ebonyi States have the least number of subscribers.

Also, the report stated that “MTN has the highest share of subscriptions. This is closely followed by AIRTEL, GLO, and EMTS (Etisalat) respectively.”

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2021/03/18/active-voice-subscribers-declined-by-0-32-in-q4-2020-nbs/

A new study from Juniper Research has found that the number of unique digital wallet users will exceed 4.4 billion globally in 2025; rising from 2.6 billion in 2020. It found that mobile wallets are leading this 70% growth, as mobile payments rapidly scale across geographical and vertical markets.

The increasing alignment between in-person and remote commerce channels is leading to greater use of mobile wallets than ever before, with online wallet use confined to high-value purchases or complex bill payments.

The research recommends that merchants should undertake complete reviews of their processes to ensure that they are offering a highly capable mobile app. This must be inclusive of a seamless checkout process, the correct mobile wallet integrations and high levels of security, or they will lose out to more mobile-adept merchants.

Developed Markets Lagging Behind China & India
The new research, Digital Wallets: Key Opportunities, Vendor Analysis and Market Forecasts 2021 2025, found that markets such as the UK and US are lagging behind China and India in terms of digital wallet adoption, with China and India accounting for 69% of digital wallet transactions in 2025.

Research co-author Nick Maynard explains: ‘In developed markets, mobile wallets facilitate card payments, but in emerging markets, wallets in places have bypassed cards entirely. Wallet providers in developed markets need to focus on building acceptance and analytics features, in order to boost their appeal in a card-centric environment.’

QR Code Payments Leading Wallet Use
The research also found that QR code payments will account for 40% of all digital wallet transactions globally in 2025; a fall from 47% of transactions in 2020. QR code payments are presently playing a leading role, due to their ease of use and acceptance, which makes them a critically important area for wallet use. However, over the next five years, the evolution of features such as card acceptance via NFC smartphones will begin to close the ease of acceptance gap.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2021/03/18/digital-wallet-users-to-exceed-4-4-billion-by-2025-as-mobile-drives-digital-payments-revolution/

In celebration of International Women’s Month, Coca-Cola Company and its partners celebrate exceeding its 5by20 goal by enabling the economic empowerment of more than 6 million women around the world.

34% (just over 2 million) of those women enabled by the 5by20 program live and do business in Africa.

5by20 aimed to assist women entrepreneurs across the Coca-Cola value chain — agricultural producers, suppliers, distributors, retailers, recyclers, and artisans — overcome challenges when establishing and growing their business. By providing access to business skills, financial services, assets and support networks of peers and mentors, women entrepreneurs are enabled to overcome social and economic barriers and succeed as entrepreneurs, while also helping create sustainable communities.

The Coca-Cola Company executed 5by20, a global initiative implemented across 33 countries in Africa, where we rolled out locally relevant initiatives. The 5by20 goal was ambitious, and we knew that we could not achieve it alone.

Over the last 10 years, we have worked with countless partners including our bottling partners, civil society organizations, government stakeholders, other private sector actors, and generous financial grants from The Coca-Cola Foundation to recipients within its Women’s Entrepreneur Empowerment priority giving tier.

The Coca-Cola Foundation has funded some of our 5by20 initiatives, and the Coca-Cola system has worked with several partners to implement over 300 programs in 100 countries to provide women entrepreneurs with business skills training, mentoring networks, financial services and other assets to help enhance their businesses and lives as well as provide more for their families.

Women empowerment and progress against all the Sustainable Development Goals requires the collective effort of governments, civil society, NGOs, and private sector organizations. Over the last 10 years, we have worked with countless partners who helped us bring our aspirations to life. Partnerships with organizations such as UN Women, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Women Enterprise Fund (WEF), Department for International Development (DFID), USAID, International Finance Corporation (IFC) MercyCorps, TechnoServe, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Hand in Hand Southern Africa, and several other regional and local partners were critical to the success of the 5by20 program.

These partnerships are a demonstration that through collective action we achieve more together than we can on our own.

In 2012, The Coca-Cola Company signed a global agreement with UN Women to enable the economic empowerment of women entrepreneurs in three pilot countries, which included South Africa. At the end of the four-year partnership in South Africa in December 2016, over 25,000 women micro-entrepreneurs had received business skills, leadership training, mentoring and peer networking skills, and access to finance.

According to a report by Harvard Kennedy School Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative, through this program, the entrepreneurs increased their revenues by 40% on average and increased their confidence and leadership abilities within their communities.

In Kenya, a partnership with the Women Enterprise Fund (WEF) established in 2014 and rooted in a shared interest in creating a fair equitable environment to help women overcome barriers and build sustainable businesses, aimed to empower 1 million women through entrepreneurship training and access to capital investment.

At the end of 2020, nearly 800,000 Kenyan women were empowered through the initiative.
In Nigeria, in partnership with the UK Department for International Development Girls Education, we launched the Educating Nigerian Girls in Nigeria Enterprise (ENGINE) value program, which aimed to strengthen the educational and economic opportunities of the Nigerian girl-child. Nearly 21,000 young girls and women benefitted from this program and many more over the last 10 years. At the end of 2020, nearly 500,000 Nigerian women were empowered through the initiative.

“This International Women’s Day, we celebrate surpassing our goal to reach 5 million women, but we know that there is still work to be done,” says Patricia Obozuwa, Vice-President: Public Affairs, Communication, and Sustainability Coca-Cola Africa. “Women entrepreneurs continue to face major hurdles hindering their successes, and we acknowledge that our work must therefore continue, particularly given the significant socio-economic disruption created by the pandemic in so many communities around the world.”

The Coca-Cola Company is a global organization, but a local business and deeply rooted in the local communities we proudly serve. We thrive as communities prosper and numerous studies from the United Nations and academic institutions have repeatedly proven that investment in women spurs economic growth and promotes sustainable development.

“By investing in women’s economic empowerment over the past decade, we have created shared value in hopes of a better-shared future — enabling improved livelihoods for women, their families, and their communities, while inclusively expanding our business,” says Obozuwa. “We are proud about the ripple effects that these programs have had on the millions of lives we have touched and will continue to have over the years to come.”

As we look to the future, The Coca-Cola Company remains committed to its purpose to refresh the world and make a difference. Our efforts will be focused on supporting community resilience and as the impact of our continuing efforts multiplies with each passing year, we expect to reach many more women and underprivileged populations around the world.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2021/03/17/iwd-coca-cola-and-partners-empowers-over-2-million-women/

OPPO is unveiling two new models in the Reno5 Series, with the Reno5 and Reno5 F packing massive improvements over the previously released Reno3 Series. The global smartphone giant doesn’t look like it is slowing down anytime soon, as it makes yet another statement by these Flagship killers into the Nigerian market at very reasonable prices.

The Reno5 series smartphones are designed for trend seekers looking for powerful, yet durable devices that boast a mix of fun, new video features that enable them to capture memories and moments from more than one perspective.

While continuing to introduce industry-leading technological innovations into its products, OPPO has also incorporated highly artistic aesthetic concepts into the designs of its products. Inheriting the complete integration of fashion and technology that has come to define the Reno family of phones, OPPO has given the new generation Reno5 Series a more fashion-forward charm.


In addition to the unique design of the Reno5 and Reno5 F; the Reno5 is 171g light and 7.7mm thin while the Reno5 F is 172g light and 7.8mm thin. Both smartphones pack cutting edge technology.

As high-tech devices, the Reno5 series’ integrated technology not only delivers a superb user experience, it also contributes to the compact design of the phone itself. The Reno5 boasts of a 6.4-inch AMOLED screen that offers an even more stunning visual experience by supporting a 90Hz refresh rate and 180Hz touch sampling rate, making every interaction extremely vivid and smooth. Additionally, the display is truly edge-to-edge, featuring a screen-to-body ratio of 91.7%.

On the body, the Reno5 introduces the “ever-changing colour” effect using the first diamond spectrum process in the industry; combining 3 different layers of Picasus Film, Fresnel Lens Texture and Reflective Indium Coating. With this innovative industry technique, the Reno5 Fantasy Silver can project thousands of different colours when it is viewed from different angles. Each of these colours shines and sparkles in a way that is distinctive and full of life in its own right.

OPPO also introduced its brand new Flowing Light Design concept on the Reno5 F, which this time adds depth to what might deceivingly appear to convey a single colour at first glance. Flowing Light Design on OPPO Ren05 F showcases a gentler and warmer look to the phone in contrast to the colder colours and textures of the Reno Series.

Here is a quick summary of the features of the Reno5 and Reno5 F packs:

Reno5 & Reno5 F are now available on pre-order nationwide at all our accredited online and offline locations. All you need to do is either visit www./mlp-oppo-store/ to pre-order NOW and win an instant OPPO branded gift or you can walk into any accredited dealership near you to pre-order NOW.

Should you prefer an assisted pre-order method, just send us a message on any of our social media platforms @opponigeria on Facebook & Instagram and @oppomobileng on Twitter and we’d be happy to help.

For every pre-order of the Reno5, you get FREE Enco W11 wireless earphones worth N19,900. For the Reno5 F pre-order, there is a FREE power bank worth N15,900.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2021/03/17/oppo-launches-reno5-series-today-here-is-a-quick-look/

The FGN bond market opened the session on a bearish note, as investors digested the inflation report released for the month of February.

With inflation figures at 17.33%, it showed an 86bps increase from the preceding month (16.47% in Jan.), as the hike was due to the continued rise in food inflation.

We observed sell-offs across most bond maturities, as the market reacted negatively to higher-than-expected inflation figures. This, consequently increased average yields by 6bps across the benchmark curve.

With uncertainty in the short-term rates (Treasury Bills primary market auction) and with Bond yields playing at these low levels, we expect investors to remain stony-faced at the underperformance of yields and pursue other alternative investment options in the interim.

Treasury Bills

The grim outlook in the bonds market, trickled into the Treasury Bills market, with the inflation report released this morning being the principal reason. We observed slight sell-offs at the short-end of the OMO Bills curve, as Banks looked to offload holdings to help funding pressure, as rates in the interbank market remain at double-digit levels despite OMO maturities of c.N113Bn. We also saw offers on the NTB side of the curve, as local investors were reluctant to invest ahead of the primary auction scheduled for later this week.

With Interbank rates on a high, we expect a quiet session in the secondary market as the market focuses on the NTB primary auction with muted expectations for another hike in stop rates with the volumes on offer relatively smaller than previous auctions.

Money Markets

Liquidity in the interbank market opened at c.N78.92bn, with rates trending slightly downwards following inflows from OMO maturities of N113Bn. The ease in system liquidity allowed local banks to pay down funding from the CBN window, crashing borrowings by c.82.55% D/D at the window. The OVN and OBB rates dropped by c.225bps to close at 10.25% and 10.50% respectively.

We anticipate the market to continue trade at these levels, as no positive liquidity respite is expected to come in for the rest of the week.

FX Market
The Naira depreciated by 85k at the I&E FX window, as the supply squeeze continued to affect the general flow of funds. Approximately $32.33m changed hands (36% lower D/D) as most banks remained bided between N394/$ and N413/$.

The spread between rates at the parallel market widened today, with the cash rate appreciating by N1.50k on one hand while the transfer rate depreciated by N1.00k to close at N494.00/$.

Eurobonds

In today’s trading session, the NIGERIA Sovereign papers traded on bullish sentiments as rates across the sovereign yield curve compressed by c.6bps, as the market awaits the outcome of the US FED meeting today and tomorrow. Investors shrugged off higher local inflation, amidst stability of oil prices above the $65pbl level.

It was a quiet session for the NIGERIA Corps tickers, with most tracked papers unchanged from the previous day’s levels. Yields on the FIDBAN 2022s expanded by 7bps while the UBANL 2022s closed lower by 4bps.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2021/03/17/inflation-report-nigerias-inflation-rises-to-17-33-highest-in-4-years/