₦airaland Forum

Lagos, Nigeria —July 9th, 2020, Nigeria’s Number one online brand insight magazine, Brand Spur, in a webinar, explained the impact of COVID-19 on Marketing and Sales in this New Normal.
How COVID-19 has affected our lives as marketers and salespersons
COVID-19 ‘A movie without Script’
Different observation during the stages of lockdown
Identifying and leveraging on new opportunities during and after COVID-19
Possibilities and opportunities that come out from COVID-19
In spite of the surge in the novel Coronavirus pandemic that sprouted across the globe leading to the lockdown of world economies. Many measures were taken from world powers to protect their economies.

Although the coming of the virus is unprecedented to this generation as it appeared like a thief at night. Meanwhile, the Nigerian government is bringing sticks to a gun battle in terms of not having what is required to halt the spread of the COVID-19 in the country.

The impact of COVID-19 on Marketing and Sales in the ‘New Normal’ as it has transformed many businesses was the pressing topic of discussion in the one-day webinar hosted by Brand Spur.

The advent of the Coronavirus pandemic can be described as a ”Movie without a Script”, titled ‘COVID-19’. As Sales and Marketing people, most of whom work in an industry where the highest numbers of what is produced yesterday are transferred today.

However, today, as you can see, having in your warehouses what was produced last month even what was produced since April remain in warehouses. Thus have led to pilling of inventory, people are willing to sell and people are willing to buy but the channels people are used to have been closed, making no means to sell.

Speaking at the webinar, Mr Oluyemi Oloyede, General Manager of Kerry Taste & Nutrition said: ”As we are eased in the lockdown, brands and companies have adjusted their strategies and execution leads into the ‘New Normal’. Marketers don’t enjoy the total lockdown because they are used to being on the field”.

Speaking on what was observed during the lockdown, Mr Oloyede explained the stages of the lockdown as:
Panic-buying in March and April: leading to spikes in late March and early month of April
A rise in the demand for certain products categories: making people demand more for home deliveries for appliances.
Very low demand for the mainstream of alcoholic brands
Rise of the modern retail channel: online sales rise up
More local brands were adopted: land, airports were closed leaving people with the choice to accept what is left for them (local products)

Pressure points: people whose spending more money on foods get to a pressure point
Telecommunication Wins: the likes of DSTV, MTN, Airtel, even people who don’t know about Netflix joins the trains and subscribed
The rise in social enterprise and NGOs into recognized entities
Brands care: Brands exhibiting their concerns on people’s safety by showing support for the government’s efforts for the fight against the virus

Identifying and leveraging new opportunities during and after COVID-19, ‘‘Many brands go out of their brands to invest in new opportunities. I have seen 2Sure from PepsiCo, hand sanitizers from Casapreco, they leverage the opportunities and these are not going to waste and their leverage opportunities after the pandemic,’‘ he commented.

Some businesses will fall out of opportunities because of the pandemic; ”various businesses exist before the pandemic and are not going to exist after the pandemic. Louis Vuitton as an example has filled for an administration, this, among other businesses” Mr Oloyede added.

Meanwhile, it is worthy of nothing that businesses should prepare for:
Shrink in before Growth; you must be emotionally and physically prepared by making review. Channel prioritization. Marketing budgets, Trade Marketing budget, Insurance and health care: More people will invest in these categories.

Brand Spur Nigeria is Nigeria’s Number 1 online brand insight magazine. Think about insights and intelligence for brands and we come to mind.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2020/07/20/nigerian-government-going-to-a-gun-battle-with-stick-in-fighting-covid-19/

The Ogun State Government has assured residents of Ojodu Abiodun, Akute in Ifo Local Government Area of the State that the State Government would immediately commence work on the 4.65-kilometre road at the end of the current raining season, with a promise to deliver a brand new road.

The Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Engr. Ade Akinsanya who gave the assurance while speaking to newsmen shortly after inspecting palliative work on the road, said that the palliative work currently going on in the area was just a temporary measure to reduce the hardship of road users, adding that the road is part of the economic linkage the Prince Dapo Abiodun-led Administration in the State was looking to revitalise.

Aside from the 4.65-kilometre Ojodu Abiodun/Akute road, Akinsanya also disclosed that the road coming from Sango to Akute, where the bridge can be seen would also be done, calling on the people of the State to be patient with the State Government in its resolve to make roads across the State motorable.

He emphasised that palliative works would be done on Ojodu Abiodun-Denro Ishashi-Ajuwon-Akute Alagbole-Yakoyo, and Alagbado-Oke Aro-Lambe-Matogun Roads and their environs.

“This road is a vital road. It is a road linking us with Lagos State. It is part of the economic linkage this Administration is trying to revitalise in this area. The new road is coming very soon. The design is ready. To make it motorable when it rains is the reason for the palliative work we are doing here today.

There has been a lot of complaints on the road, but the Governor has directed us to make it motorable, even in the interim.

“There will be a brand new road linking this place to Lagos. It is a 4.65-kilometre road. At the same time, the road coming from Sango to Akute here where you see the bridge – that also will be done,” he said.


A resident and pastor in charge of First Baptist Church, Akute, Reverend Ayo Ojeleye, while commending the State Government for the palliative work on the road, called on the Government to as a matter of urgency come to the aid of the people in the area.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2020/07/20/ogun-begins-work-on-ojodu-abiodun-akute-road/

Nengi Akinola, Marketing Manager, OPPO Nigeria explained that the decision to partner with the Reality Star and Serial Entrepreneur was based on the interesting persona she possesses and her charming aura which makes her a perfect fit for the youthful brand essence of OPPO Mobile.

Tacha’s story is one many young Nigerians can connect with, she has shown ambition and a fighting spirit even in the face of adversity. For OPPO, this connects perfectly with the genuine desire to rise to the top of the Nigerian Smartphone industry in a very short time. We are sure that the partnership with Tacha is a positive step in the right direction.

OPPO Mobile only launched in Nigeria in April 2019 and has quickly become a force to reckon in the Smartphone industry. It has been impressive to see how OPPO Mobile has shown dynamism by having a different approach to the Nigerian market without losing the essence of the true Nigerian culture.

The brand has also shown a willingness to support Nigerian talent, from photography to videography to content creation to modelling; OPPO has indeed made a strong statement that it is not just a brand that promises but also a brand that changes lives.

Will the Tacha partnership be a good move for OPPO in its continuous rise to the top in Nigeria? Only time will tell.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2020/07/19/oppo-mobile-nigeria-signs-multi-million-naira-partnership-deal-with-tacha/

Like millions of people around the world, you probably use WhatsApp on your phone every day to stay in touch with your friends and family members. However, there is one more side of WhatsApp that can be very useful to business owners, social media marketers, and more.

We are talking about WhatsApp Business and here is everything you need to know.

1. What Is WhatsApp Business

WhatsApp Business is a subdivision of regular WhatsApp that was unveiled as a standalone app in 2018. WhatsApp Business gives business owners another opportunity to become closer to its customers and maintain their online presence.

The three most popular ways to use WhatsApp Business are informing the customers about new promotions and products, giving them a look behind the scenes with WhatsApp stories, and providing speedy customer support.

WhatsApp Business has many advantages for business owners compared to regular WhatsApp.

First, you get a verifiable business profile where you can choose a profile picture and add contact information to help customers get in touch with you easier.

Second, you can use Broadcast Lists and automatic responses to make communication with customers more effective.

Third, there are stats for your posts that you can use to measure the efficiency of your communication methods.

2. How To Switch To A WhatsApp Business Account

If you run a business or work in marketing and want to use one more channel to reach out to your customers, you will need a WhatsApp account. You can download it independently or switch your regular WhatsApp account to a WhatsApp Business account. Here is how to do it.

Back up your WhatsApp data by going to the app’s settings and selecting the necessary options to save your chats in the cloud storage.Go to Google Play Store on Android phones and the App Store on iOS devices. Search and download the WhatsApp Business app to your phone for free.Launch the WhatsApp Business app. Review and accept the Terms of Service to continue.WhatsApp will automatically identify your mobile phone number, so all you need to do is make sure it’s correct and move on to the next steps.The app will then begin the migrating process where your data will be moved from the standard WhatsApp account to a Business WhatsApp account. Keep the app open while it’s happening, as you may be prompted to allow the app to download backed up data or confirm other queries.Give the necessary permissions to WhatsApp Business, which includes contacts and media.Sign up as a WhatsApp Business user with your business name, profile picture, and the right business category.Go to Settings -> More options -> Business tools -> Business profile to boost your WhatsApp Business profile. Fill out the description of your company, other contact options, working hours, and business address.Once your WhatsApp Business is set up, you can begin your first chat. Tap the icon to write a new message, select the contact, and begin composing your message. Tap Send when you’re done to deliver your message to the recipient.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2020/07/18/how-to-change-your-whatsapp-from-a-normal-account-to-a-business-account/

Pandemic-driven recessionary conditions pushed global debt-to-GDP to a new record of 331% in Q1, up from 320% in Q4 2019

Debt in mature markets reached 392% of GDP (vs 380% in 2019). Canada, France and Norway saw the largest increases

EM debt surged to over 230% of GDP in Q1 2020 (vs 220% in 2019), largely driven by non-financial corporates in China

Defaults on the rise: the face value of defaulted non-financial corporate bonds jumped to a record $94bn in Q2

Over 92% of outstanding gov’t debt is still investment grade (BBB or above)—but rising debt ratios will prompt concern

Total EM FX debt was broadly stable at $8.4T in Q1, suggesting sovereigns and corporates could still roll over FX liabilities

Refinancing risk: emerging markets will need to refinance $620 billion in FX debt (bonds and loans) through the end of 2020

Global debt soared to a record high 331% of GDP ($258 trillion) in Q1 2020.

With widespread recessionary conditions in Q1 amid the COVID-19 pandemic—particularly
in emerging markets—the global debt-to-GDP ratio surged by over 10 percentage points in Q1 (Chart 1).

While this marks the largest quarterly increase in global debt ratios on record, the actual rise in debt was only $1.2 trillion—well below the average quarterly rise of $2 trillion over 2015-2019.

However, available data on issuance suggests that the pace of debt buildup has accelerated since March, largely reflecting the massive global fiscal and monetary response to the pandemic.

With some $11 trillion in global fiscal stimulus approved and another $5 trillion in the pipeline, gross debt issuance hit an eye-popping record of $12.5 trillion in Q2—vs. a quarterly average of $5.5 trillion in 2019.

Governments accounted for over 60% of gross issuance in Q2. While rising debt levels will raise concerns about debt dynamics and creditworthiness, over 92% of government debt is still investment grade.

Rapid rise in corporate debt:

The corporate sector accounted for over 65% of the rise in the global debt-to-GDP ratio in Q1 2020. While total debt in the financial sector has risen by $8 trillion since 2016 to $64 trillion in Q1, over the same period non-financial corporate debt rose by $12 trillion to $75.5 trillion, a record high at 95% of GDP.

Looking ahead, we expect the rise in corporate debt to continue at an accelerated pace. With abundant central bank liquidity, the decline in borrowing costs for corporates has already led to a substantial surge in corporate bond and loan issuance since March, amounting to some $4.6 trillion in Q2—vs a quarterly average of $2.8 trillion in 2019.

Debt in mature markets has topped 392% of GDP, up by some 12 percentage points from 2019. With debt outside financial sector reaching close to 320% of GDP, the rise in debt ratios (ex-financials) has been most notable in Canada, France, the U.S. and Norway, each increasing over 9 percentage points in Q1 (Chart 3). Now topping over $185 trillion, total debt in mature markets is $22 trillion higher than in 2016, with the U.S. making up half of it.

Slight drop in EM debt levels:

Despite a record quarterly rise in EM debt ratios (from 220% of GDP in Q4 2019 to 230% in Q1 2020), the USD value of EM debt fell by $700 billion to $72.5 trillion. With EM bond issuance remaining robust in Q1, this decline was largely driven by the depreciation in EM currencies against the USD.

Excluding financial sector debt, China, Korea, Turkey and Mexico witnessed the sharpest rise in debt-to-GDP ratios in Q1.

China’s debt is on track to hit 335% of GDP:

Total debt across all sectors (household, government, financial and non-financial corporate) increased from 302% of GDP to near 318% in Q1 2020. While this rapid increase marks the largest quarterly surge on record, available monthly data suggest that the pace of debt accumulation accelerated even further in Q2 and is fast approaching 335% of GDP.

We estimate that non-financial corporates accounted for some 60% of this rapid debt build-up in H1 2020.

Corporate defaults on the rise:

With corporate earnings plunging and credit downgrades on the rise, the face value of defaulted non-financial corporate bonds jumped to a record $94 billion in Q2 2020. The U.S. accounted for nearly 75% of this, followed by the Euro Area (14%) and China (3%).

Although this marks the highest volume of quarterly defaults on record, the volume of defaulted debt amounted to 5.5% of new issuance—slightly lower than seen at the peak of the 2008/9 global crisis (Chart 4).

Our updated tracker suggests that the share of SOE debt in non-financial corporate debt in EMs has been on a downward trend in recent years, now standing at less than 55% of sectoral leverage on average—vs over 58% in 2015.

However, as in previous stress episodes, we expect SOEs to play an important role in the post-COVID recovery phase, and this will likely induce a sharp rise in EM non-financial corporate debt—see the Global Debt Monitor Database.

EM FX debt remained broadly stable at around $8.4 trillion in Q1 2020, suggesting that EMs have been able to roll over their FX liabilities despite market tensions amid COVID-19.

However, the sharp depreciation in EM currencies against the USD, along with the steep contraction in output, prompted a surge in FX debt-to-GDP ratios in Q1 2020 — most markedly in Ukraine, Chile, Mexico and Colombia.

EM refinancing needs:

Some $3.7 trillion of EM debt will come due through end-2020, with FX-denominated debt accounting for nearly 17% of the total. Countries that face large upcoming FX redemptions in 2020 include China, UAE and Turkey.

Across the sectors, financial corporates have the largest refinancing needs in the remainder of 2020. Our estimates suggest that around $4 trillion of EM debt will mature in 2021—almost 18% in foreign currency

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2020/07/16/global-debt-hit-331-of-gdp-in-q1-up-more-than-10-points-from-pre-pandemic-levels/

Because it’s not actually “cheap.”

A high-specced Xiaomi Mi 8 with a top-of-the-line Snapdragon 845 costs around $400. If you go to a country like, say Vietnam, $400 is enough for a person to live pretty comfortably, eating out at restaurants every day for a month. I could live lavishly for a month at $400 in my country.

It might not seem like much too, say, an American, but it’s not exactly cheap. Even an American who is down on his luck can easily live on $400 of groceries for a month. That’s beside the point, though.

How can Xiaomi afford to price this way? Easy. That’s because the cost to make the phone is actually way less than that. Does it cost $300? Nah. Probably way less. They aren’t thriving on a profit margin of just $100 per flagship. The phone itself probably cost less than $200 to make.

It’s not that Xiaomi is pricing their phones cheap. It’s just that other competitors are massively overpricing their phones to fill out their margins.

Galaxy S9 at $900? iPhone X at $1000? These phones probably cost around $300 to make. The S9 shares many parts with the Mi 8, so it probably is also cheaper than $300. One thing’s for sure, the S9 definitely doesn’t cost more than $400 to make, that’s the retail price of the Mi 8. Samsung is making at least $500 per phone here.

Xiaomi isn’t cheap. It’s just that Apple, Samsung and other competitors are just unreasonably expensive.

It’s not just that, though. Xiaomi does price aggressively. They can afford to do this because phones aren’t their only revenue source. Xiaomi — like Apple and Samsung — have other businesses where they make a lot of money. Their phones are just one way to funnel people to those businesses.

Apple for instance actually makes a lot of their money from the iTunes ecosystem. They just choose to also make hefty margins off their hardware because they want to keep that premium exclusive status in their branding, unlike say Google who chooses to sell many products and services at a loss to funnel people into their search engine business.

Xiaomi uses their phones as a strategy to get people into their internet services business, which also contributes a decent chunk to Xiaomi’s revenues ($585 million last quarter). That said, Xiaomi’s biggest business is still phones sales ($4.5 billion last quarter — their next biggest business was selling TVs at $1.5 billion) — meaning they actually have huge margins on their “cheap” phones.

Xiaomi’s labour costs are definitely lower than Samsung’s and Apple’s overall, but the other big place they are saving on is advertising. Samsung and Apple spend billions on advertising and marketing. Xiaomi spends significantly less and only has very small online marketing campaigns.

Hugo Barra, Vice President of Xiaomi, also shared that their long phone product cycles lets them keep costs lower as they have more leeway in negotiating component prices, as they can keep using the same parts over and over instead of needing new and different parts for a new phone model.

In addition, they keep a small portfolio of phones, so there’s not much need for variation in parts. Compare this with Samsung, that has tons of phones models available at any given time.

Combine all these with the better labour costs and closer sourcing components from Shenzhen, and they are able to save a lot and pinch much more pennies, savings which they pass on to the consumer.

EDIT: I wanted to add a little something to my answer. I dug up Xiaomi’s financials to make sure I wasn’t talking out of my butt. These are Xiaomi’s numbers from their first-ever earnings call as a publicly-traded company.

Xiaomi Q2 2018 numbers taken from here and you can get the actual data from Xiaomi in Chinese Yuan here.

Net Profit: $2.1 billionTotal Revenue: $6.6 billionPhone Sales: $4.5 billion (67% of all revenue)TV and Fitness Bands: $1.5 billionInternet Services: $585 million

Lei Jun, Xiaomi’s CEO, has famously said that they keep hardware margins at 5%. However, if you look at the financials this is clearly not the case.

They aren’t making $2.1 billion net profit if their phone margins are just at 5%. That would mean they only made $225 million off phone sales and $75 million on TV sales ($300 million total), that’s $1.8 billion shy of their posted profits. $585 revenue (not even profit) from Internet Services isn’t even close to making it. These are Xiaomi’s numbers, straight from the horse’s mouth, so don’t look at me.

It’s clear that they are making way more than 5% on phones. That $400 Mi 8 isn’t even close to cost. They are making way more on each phone. Assuming that $585 Internet Services revenue is close to full profit, that’s still about $1.5 billion missing profit ($2.1B net profit – $585M) that should be coming from the smartphone and TV sales divisions. According to the math, their profit margins on their phones are closer to 40% ($6B total revenue from Phone and TV divided by $1.5B profit).

So that Mi 8 that retails for $400 probably cost around $240 to make, including all costs and overhead — unless they are being “creative” with their accounting.

Written by:

Erwin Anciano, Former Manager at General Electric

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2020/07/16/why-is-xiaomi-so-cheap-even-with-high-specs/

In spite of the despair that came with the COVID-19 pandemic and its attendant consequences, Nigeria decided to seize the opportunity to reset the economy amidst worldwide economic challenges, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.

Prof. Osinbajo stated this in Abuja on Tuesday at a Webinar organised by the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council, CWEIC, with its focus on Nigeria.

According to the Vice President, “it seemed the sun was beginning to shine quite brightly after the years of recession and its immediate aftermath. Then came COVID-19 possibly the worst economic crisis the world has seen. For us in Nigeria, it was a perfect storm for oil prices, Russia and Saudi Arabia choosing that very moment for a price war. Then the inevitable lockdowns resulting in the closure of businesses, our huge informal economy all but crashed and Government revenues fell too by over 40%.

“But the silver linings were perhaps bolder in the dark clouds.

The President decided that we could seize the opportunity to reset our economy in a way that may have been impossible had there not been a worldwide economic crash.

“I was asked to chair an inter-ministerial team to develop our Economic Sustainability Plan. A plan which we hope will, in the next 12 months or so, avoid a deep and prolonged recession by supporting businesses and households, but perhaps more importantly, addressing long-term structural vulnerabilities

“Taking into account our economic size and fiscal limitations, we have put together a stimulus package of N2.3trillion, which is just over 1.5% of national income. If other factors like the price of oil and length of the COVID-19 pandemic do not worsen further, these interventions should ameliorate the situation with a mild recession expected of minus 0.59%.”

Other speakers at the international webinar include Lord Marland of Odstock, the Chairman of the CWEIC, Sir Lynton Crosby, Chief Executive Officer C|T Group and the Industry, Trade & Investment Minister, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo.

REMARKS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA AT THE COMMONWEALTH ENTERPRISE AND INVESTMENT COUNCIL FOCUS ON NIGERIA WEBINAR ON THE 14TH OF JULY, 2020

Protocols

Thank you for that kind introduction. I am pleased to be participating in this special session focused on Nigeria. There is never a good time for a pandemic, but there can be a terribly wrong time.

That’s how it seemed three months ago as COVID – 19 began to ravage. January 2020, oil prices approached $70 a barrel for the first time since the crash of 2015/2016 which saw prices crash to sub $30 a barrel, Q3 2019 growth was 2.55%, modest but clearly on the upward trajectory, 3% growth was well in sight.

Our Economic Recovery and Growth Plan was beginning to make sense. Work was on-going in major rail, road and bridge projects along the main national trade corridors. The Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) arrangements on our Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Train 7 which will unlock an additional 30% more LNG output had commenced.

It seemed the sun was beginning to shine quite brightly after the years of recession and its immediate aftermath. Then came COVID-19, possibly the worst economic crisis the world has seen. For us in Nigeria, it was a perfect storm for oil prices, Russia and Saudi Arabia choosing that very moment for a price war. Then the inevitable lockdowns resulting in closure of businesses, our huge informal economy all but crashed and Government revenues fell too by over 40%.

But the silver linings were perhaps bolder in the dark clouds. The President decided that we could seize the opportunity to reset our economy in a way that may have been impossible had there not been a worldwide economic crash.

I was asked to chair an inter-ministerial team to develop our Economic Sustainability Plan. A plan which we hope will in the next 12 months or so, avoid a deep and prolonged recession by supporting businesses and households, but perhaps more importantly, addressing long-term structural vulnerabilities.

Taking into account our economic size and fiscal limitations, we have put together a stimulus package of N2.3trillion, which is just over 1.5% of national income. If other factors like the price of oil and length of the COVID-19 pandemic do not worsen further, these interventions should ameliorate the situation with a mild recession expected of minus 0.59%.

We have taken the opportunity to remove petrol subsidies and to insist that power distribution companies must engage with customers to ensure that new tariffs are based only on improved power supply. We are talking of service reflective tariffs.

The Central Bank of Nigeria is also committing to moving to a unified exchange rate, to improve certainty in trade and investment. In addition to using fiscal and monetary measures to stimulate the economy, our main objectives are to retain and create jobs, to assist vulnerable people, support businesses and undertake infrastructural investments. I am happy to see from the research that jobs, retaining jobs and creating more opportunities tops Nigerians’ priorities when it comes to what they believe the COVID-19 response should be like.

Some key interventions include: Jobs for Food which is an agricultural programme aimed at expanding the acreage under cultivation across the country, to create, we hope, hundreds of thousands of jobs and we also intend to guarantee uptake processors, aggregators and to some extent, by government.

We also have a Jobs through Homes programme which is a programme to provide jobs and increase our national housing stock, at the same time by a massive social housing programme where we intend to engage young professionals and artisans who are involved at the moment, in small businesses, building and using local products such as cement, doors, tiles, windows and paint.

We also have a Solar Homes Systems Programme where we intend to engage private solar power companies who will be able to access cheap loans to provide modular solar-powered units to about 5 million households which will roughly translate to serve 25 million people in rural or under-served areas. At the moment, we have about 40million homes without power. So, we expect that this will be a major dent in that deficit.

The scale required means we will be encouraging suppliers to establish production facilities in the country. We expect to be able to attract solar companies to establish manufacturing and assembly plants in Nigeria.

Supporting small businesses is also a priority and I am sure the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment will talk more about it.

We are also looking at the Future of Jobs programme in technology taking into account the ‘new normalʼ, our creative and significant youth population and the need to prepare our economy to be an outsourcing hub, providing services across the whole gamut of possible technology engagements, including animation, software engineering and data analysis.

These are areas where we have invested considerably already and we intend to do a bit more and we hope that some of the efforts we put into the response will address these areas even more pointedly.

To be sure, improving health outcomes is very much part of the package. To meet the immediate challenge, we have dug deep to find resources to respond to the pandemic. We have more built isolation centres and laboratories, incentivizing medical personnel, buying test kits and personal protective equipment, as well as several other medical types of equipment.

We have increased the number of modular laboratories that can handle COVID-19 samples from 5 at the onset of the pandemic to 39 today.

The crisis has also revealed significantly, the vulnerability of our health sector. So, as part of the Economic Sustainability Plan, we are also looking at the universal health coverage, about improving the work we are doing in universal health insurance with a view to universal health coverage by a combination of public finance and mandatory social insurance.

While we are bullish on promoting local production, we remain committed to engaging with our traditional trading partners. This is in recognition of the potential contribution of trade to growth.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is pertinent in this regard, but so certainly is also trade with our Commonwealth partners, including the United Kingdom. This was indeed evident from Nigeria’s participation in the UK-Africa Investment Forum held earlier this year. It is particularly noteworthy that intra-Commonwealth trade is projected to rise from an estimated $1trillion this year to $2.75trillion by 2030 and we intend to be a major part of this growth.

It is not news of course that the COVID-19 pandemic has distorted international trade with disruption of global value chains, export bans, and protectionist policies. On our part, Nigeria remains committed to the multilateral trade system but we will ensure that our economy is not subjected to unfair trade practices.

Ultimately, we see Nigeria as ‘Africa’s Gateway Economy’. As the continent’s most populous nation and its largest economy, we think that we can leverage our geographical location, which is right in the middle of far-flung Commonwealth countries, we are poised to catalyze intra-Commonwealth trade. Our investments in fast-growing sectors and infrastructure, power, rail, roads and several other areas especially technology where we think we can benefit from other Commonwealth countries.

Once again, I thank the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council for convening this important discussion especially now, when we certainly see a greater need for socio-economic engagements with our Commonwealth partners and we are set and ready to continue these engagements and we look forward to not just what this particular session will bring but to all our future cooperation.

Thank you very much indeed.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2020/07/15/how-we-are-converting-covid-19-pandemic-to-opportunity-to-reset-the-economy-osinbajo/

Global law firm Hogan Lovells is honoured to announce that Nobel Peace Prize Winner and former Liberian president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, will be part of their line-up of prestigious panellists and speakers at the seventh annual Hogan Lovells Africa Forum.
This highly anticipated event, which will be held virtually on Monday 20 July, will delve deep into business-critical dialogues surrounding Africa’s growth and sustainability.

“We at Hogan Lovells are very excited to have so many influential and respected individuals from different industries join our discussions at this year’s Africa Forum,” says Andrew Skipper, Head of Hogan Lovells Africa Practice.

“We are particularly thrilled to have President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as part of our event, as she is a global leader of freedom, peace, justice, women’s empowerment and democratic rule.

As Africa’s first democratically-elected female head of state, she led Liberia from 2006 to 2018 through reconciliation and recovery following the nation’s decade-long civil war, as well as the Ebola Crisis, winning international acclaim for achieving economic, social, and political change.”

This year’s Africa Forum comes in the midst of the global pandemic, COVID-19, which has had and will continue to have, a fundamental impact on the way we do business in Africa, from Africa and across Africa.

The additional burden of climate change, which the continent is one of the most vulnerable to – although it contributes the least to global warming – makes the issue of sustainability a relevant focus area for how Africa’s industries can grow.

The event will consist of a number of sessions, all having Africa and its growth as their focus.

These sessions will include:
Championing Africa – this panel, which will include Rakesh Wahi, Co-founder & Vice Chairman at ABN Group (CNBC Africa & Forbes Africa) will address questions like, “How do you grow in a sustainable way regardless of the size of your business?” and “How do you promote a positive narrative for Africa in a constantly evolving market place especially in a time of global crisis?”
Financing for impact – Financial institutions the world over are increasingly turning to investments that embed sustainability, meet SDG and ESG targets, and have a positive impact on all stakeholders. Africa should be benefiting from this growing appetite and the continent doesn’t lack opportunities. Panellists for this session will include Ibukun Adebayo, Director and Co-Head Emerging Markets at London Stock Exchange Group; Christopher Kirigua, Regional Head of Sustainable Finance for Africa at Standard Chartered Bank; and Nieros Oyegun, Head of Network – The Africa List at CDC

Managing risk in times of uncertainty – This session will examine the importance of managing risks in light of the current state of the global economy following the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The discussion will cover lessons learned from managing COVID-19 related risks – what has worked well and what strategies can be used for dealing with risk allocation for past, present and future projects in a sustainable way.
Africa beyond COVID: the role of government and the public sector in defining and delivering a new positive and sustainable narrative – Africa is arguably disproportionately impacted by climate change and while demographics are working in our favour, as well as disruptive changes in the global supply chain that could result in less reliance on international suppliers, how can government and external investor countries balance the need to develop with the need for sustainability? Four prominent public officials from wide-ranging parts of the continent, including H.E. Tarek Ahmed Ibrahim Adel, Ambassador of Egypt to the United Kingdom and H.E. Dr Fatimata Dia, Ambassador of Senegal to the United Kingdom, will explore and discuss this topic.

“For the past seven years, Africa Forum has been a platform for some of the best minds on the continent to come together and discuss how Africa can best grow and thrive across industries and sectors,” notes Skipper.

“We at Hogan Lovells are excited to host our very first online Africa Forum, which has been held both in the UK and in Africa in previous years. This 2020 version of our event is particularly pertinent, as the continent has been presented with further challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. I look forward to many robust and fruitful discussions at this year’s Africa Forum.”

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2020/07/15/nobel-laureate-ellen-johnson-sirleaf-to-give-keynote-address-at-hogan-lovells-7th-africa-forum/

Euromoney recognises Ecobank’s focus on sustainability and partnerships and its core capabilities in delivering positive social and environmental outcomes across Africa
The leading pan-African banking group, Ecobank, has won the coveted prize of Africa’s Best Bank for Corporate Responsibility in the Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2020. Euromoney recognises Ecobank’s focus on sustainability and partnerships and its core capabilities in delivering positive social and environmental outcomes across Africa.

Carl Manlan, Chief Operating Officer of the Ecobank Foundation said: “At Ecobank we leverage human capabilities and other core resources to partner for African transformation. We are passionate about co-designing partnerships to drive change at community levels across our pan-African footprint. The Euromoney Award for Excellence recognises our collaboration with African communities and like-minded partners.”

Ade Ayeyemi, CEO of Ecobank Group said: “The Ecobank Foundation is doing amazing work in delivering on its commitment to improving the quality of life of people across the African continent. The Foundation should be rightly proud of its ceaseless impact and the real difference that it is making in numerous parts of the continent. Through the Foundation, our Group leverages its resources and capabilities to contribute to the economic and social development of Africa.”

Ecobank’s Corporate Responsibility primarily concentrates on the three key areas of health, education and financial inclusion.

Recent partnership examples:
Ecobank’s three-year campaign to raise awareness of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and educate communities by providing key information about the dietary and lifestyle changes required to help prevent NCDs such as cancer and diabetes. Ecobank Day is our volunteer community day targeted at helping the vulnerable sectors in our local communities.
Ecobank’s Group Chairman Sustainability Award which emphasises our role in each country in designing innovative, replicable and scalable solutions driving sustainable environmental and social change. Ecobank Togo is the 2020 winner for its support for Government efforts to provide electricity to 300,000 rural households and businesses through solar energy kits.
African economies’ health recovery is vital and Ecobank contributed about US$3 million in the form of cash, healthcare equipment and medical supplies. Moreover, Ecobank deployed its financial capabilities for the African Union’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention to enable every citizen and member of the diaspora to contribute to the pan-African Covid-19 response.
Earlier this month, Ecobank rolled out its ‘Zero Malaria Business Leadership initiative.’ Launched in partnership with Speak Up Africa, it aims to eliminate malaria across Africa through private sector-led initiatives which increase financing and take stronger and better-targeted actions to support national malaria control programmes.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2020/07/15/ecobank-group-named-africas-best-bank-for-corporate-responsibility-by-euromoney/

As part of efforts to strengthen Imo State’s maximization of petroleum resources management as a contributor to the state’s economic development, Governor Hope Uzodinma has appointed an oil industry expert, Mrs Chioma Nonyerem Njoku as Senior Special Assistant Adviser on Petroleum.
She is also to serve as the Secretary of the Bureau of Oil and Gas Matters.

Before her appointment, Mrs Njoku had held several positions at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) including as Acting Director of Petroleum Resources. She brings to bear several years of experience working in the oil sector.

Her appointment is one that has been hailed by industry and subject matter experts as a step in the right direction by the Imo State government.

Mrs. Njoku boasts a solid educational background that spans Corona School, British–American International School and Mary Wood Grammar School Lagos, Nigeria.

Thereafter, she went on to garner academic and professional qualifications in Accountancy at the Institute of Management and Technology Enugu and certification by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and the Chartered Institute of Taxation.

She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Taxation and member of various professional associations.

Furthermore, she has attended various Executive Management Courses including the prestigious Harvard Business School program for Leadership and General Management.

Equipped with a high level of integrity, Mrs. Njoku has over 35 years of Oil and Gas industry experience, spanning various technical and corporate sections in the NNPC and DPR, Nigeria’s regulatory agency for the Oil and Gas Industry. She previously served as Head, Finance and Accounts at the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) where her responsibilities included revenue accounting during the Oil bloc bid rounds.

At various times during her career, she had superintending responsibilities in the three largest Upstream/Downstream Oil and Gas Operations Zones (Lagos, Warri and Port Harcourt). She retired as a Deputy Director/Zonal Operations Controller, South-South Zone of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), with the responsibility of coordinating regulatory compliance activities.

She represented the DPR in various inter-agency consultative organizations (The Presidency, National Assembly, Fed. Min of Finance, Fed Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Petroleum Technology Development Fund, Petroleum Equalisation Fund, Nigeria Content Development Management Board, NDDC, PPPRA) as well as the Oil Producers Trade Association (OPTA) comprising Chief Executives, and in the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), an association of Nigerian Indigenous Technical Oil Field Service Companies.

In the public sector, Mrs. Njoku served as Senior Technical Assistant to the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and Nigeria’s OPEC Governor, as well as the Oil and Gas Industry Desk Representative at the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) One-Stop Investment Centre (OSIC), with the responsibility of Oil and Gas Investment and Trade Facilitation.

She represented the Department in review committees on Voluntary Principles proposals by the European Union and the United States of America.

The new appointee, who is married with children, spends her time mentoring the youth and women through participation in community-based activities and advocacy.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2020/07/14/uzodinma-taps-mrs-njoku-harvard-bred-oil-industry-expert-as-ssaa-petroleum/

As part of its focus in bringing people together and building communities, Facebook today announced the 12 African community leaders who have been selected to join Facebook’s Community Accelerator, a six-month programme that aims to equip communities with the training, mentorship, and funding they need to grow.
Part of the global Facebook Community Leadership initiative launched in 2018, the Community Accelerator programme invests in leaders who are building communities around the world; including bringing people together, offering encouragement, and driving change.

Following the call for applications is March 2020, 77 community leaders from around the world were chosen, with 12 selected from Sub-Saharan Africa.

Awarding up to $3 million, selected community leaders will receive up to $30,000 in funding. In the first three months of the programme, these leaders will learn from experts and coaches, whilst developing customized curriculums focused on growing their own communities.

The following three months will then be focused on iterating and executing their plans, with funding and continued support from their network, as well as from a dedicated programme team. The Community Accelerator will then culminate in an event with community leaders to showcase their communities and progress to external funders and partners.

Commenting, Kezia Anim-Addo, Head of Communications for Sub-Saharan Africa said: “We’re delighted to be welcoming 12 African community leaders to Facebook’s first Community Accelerator. We’ve seen time and again the power of communities in bringing people closer together and feeling more connected.

We know community leaders can do extraordinary things when they have adequate support from others, tools to get the job done, funding to grow and belief in themselves. The Facebook Community Accelerator will enable these great communities to make an even greater positive impact in the world, and we hope that through the support of the programme these communities will have an extraordinary impact, even in extraordinary times.”

Community leaders selected from across Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa as part of the Facebook Community Accelerator include:
Hauwa Ojeifo, She Writes Woman (Nigeria) – In 2016, Hauwa created “Safe Place Nigeria” to provide a stigma and judgment-free space for young people to talk about mental health-related issues. It has become a community for young people to learn, feel connected, get support and feel a sense of belonging
Bright Shiitemii, Mental360 (Kenya) – Mental 360 was started in 2016 to give youth a safe platform to learn about mental health and illness and to access affordable holistic solutions. It is a non-partisan non-discriminatory space where youth can grow their emotional wellness, grow their network and get peer support
Lauren Dallas, Future Females (South Africa) – founded in 2017 with a mission to increase the number of female entrepreneurs and support their success. They have become the go-to destination for aspiring and early-stage female entrepreneurs to receive the inspiration, education and support needed to build profitable businesses online

Tony Onuk, The Root Hub (Nigeria) – Roothub was started in 2014 to provide a safe space for youths to build their ideas, grow their businesses, and access support
Esther Mwikalii, Metta NBO (Kenya) – founded in 2015 as an entrepreneurs’ network with the goal of bringing together founders, policymakers and investors to collaborate
Refilwe Nkomo, Visual Arts Network South Africa (South Africa) – established in 2007 as a support point and development agency for contemporary art practice in South Africa. It aspires to be a dynamic and resilient network-based organisation contributing to growth, innovation and opportunities in the arts
Eyitayo Ogunmola, Utiva (Nigeria) – Utiva is a decentralized ecosystem that helps Nigerians access technology skills and trainings regardless of their location and internet barrier

Naadiya Moosajee, WomEng (South Africa) – a social enterprise aimed at attracting, developing and nurturing the next generation of women engineering leaders
Abiodun Adereni, Helpmum (Nigeria) – started in 2017, HelpMum tackles maternal and infant mortality in remote rural areas in Nigeria, and provides Clean Birth Kits for hygienic delivery to pregnant women, immunization reminders and health information to nursing mothers
dillion phiri, Creative Nestlings (South Africa) – Launched in February 2011, dillion s. phiri founded Creative Nestlings to connect young African creatives to each other, to opportunities and to resources, democratizing how young African creatives connect, get paid, learn and grow

Rufaro Mudimu, Enke (South Africa) – “enke”, meaning ‘ink’ in SeTswana, started in 2009 to bridge socioeconomic inequality by bringing young people together and equipping them with the skills and experiences to improve their lives. “enke” connects, equips and inspires young people to make their mark, authoring a positive future for themselves and their communities
Tariro Bure, MINDS (South Africa) – MINDS was founded in 2010 as a platform rooted in cultural heritage and knowledge systems for youth to reclaim their African identities and transform the continent. It has become a movement of youth and crucial stakeholders which aspires to shape policy, foster economic development, and enhance the evolution of African institutions

Commenting on his Community Group, Abiodun Aldereni, Founder of HelpMum said: “I feel excited to be selected among the Facebook community accelerator cohort and I look forward to growing our community of pregnant women, nursing women and traditional birth attendants with the help of Facebook’s expert team.”

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2020/07/14/12-facebook-community-leaders-from-nigeria-south-africa-kenya-selected-as-part-of-the-accelerator-program/

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Deap Capital Management & Trust Plc clarifies the news item from various online sources, especially The Cable, dated 9 July 2020, and captioned “AMCON takes over assets belonging to Deap Capital-sixth seizure in 21 days”

The Company hereby makes the following clarifications:

The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON or the Corporation) holds a significant equity stake in the Company.

The Corporation holds about 20% equity stake in the Company.

The Company is indebted to AMCON. The indebtedness stands at about N1.6 Billion.

The indebtedness arose from the Corporations purchase of eligible bank assets.

The Corporation instituted an action against the Company in the Federal High Court, Lagos and judgment were delivered on January 28, 2015.The Corporation had judgment awarded in its favour in the above suit.
Pursuant to the judgment, the Corporation instituted recovery processes against the Company.

The Corporation recently secured a Court Order to attach the assets of the Company’s former directors.

The assets as described by the aforementioned news item, and referenced by a Press Release from AMCON are the assets of one of the Company’s former directors attached to the judgment.
The Company is resolving its indebtedness to AMCON.
The Company is working with its stakeholders to ensure its return to profitability.
The Company is resolving its operational challenges most notably the recovery of its operational licenses.

The Company’s Board of Directors is committed to resolving all issues.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2020/07/13/deap-capital-management-clarifies-rumour-on-amcons-takeover/

Nigeria Rugby today announced its partnership with Rugby Outreach UK to provide Rugby fitness, strength and conditioning advice to local teams across Nigeria.

Technical Director; Abubakar Yaro says the partnership will help local teams across the country improve their fitness and conditioning required in the game.

The Rugby Outreach Project is a global charity that provides Rugby fitness, strength and conditioning advice. The project operates on every rugby playing continent and assists teams from the grassroots level all the way up to international. This includes Union, League and 7s rugby.

Teams can receive free training programs that focus on areas such as speed, power development, strength and endurance, all focused specifically for rugby.

The programs are tailored to the requirements and needs of the team in question. So regardless of location, available equipment or kit teams can increase their physical development.

The founder of Rugby Outreach is Andy Lockwood who has over 20 years experience in coaching sport and Strength & Conditioning. He spent two seasons with Bath Rugby Academy as a coaching intern and has coached age grade to adult rugby.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2020/07/13/nigeria-rugby-football-federation-nrff-partners-rugby-outreach-uk/

Domestic debt service increased by 295% from Q4 2019 to ₦609 billion in Q1 2020. FGN bonds made up 80% of the domestic debt service. Total debt increased by 4% from last quarter to ₦27.4 trillion, made up of 65% domestic debt and 35% external debt.
According to the Nigerian Domestic and Foreign Debt Q1 2020 report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s total public debt showed that N9.99trn or 34.89% of the debt was external while N18.64trn or 65.11% of the debt was domestic.

Of the domestic debt of N18.64 trillion, the federal government’s share alone is N14.53 trillion compared to Q4 2019 when the total domestic debt was N18.37 trillion with the federal government accounting for N14.27 trillion.

Similarly, States and FCT domestic debt was put at N4.11trillion with Lagos state accounting for 10.8% of the total domestic debt stock while Yobe State has the least debt stock in this category with a contribution of 0.7%.

Federal government’s domestic debt service for Q1 also increased to N609.13 billion compared to N254.04 billion in Q4 of 2019.

Abia State accounted for N69.63 billion of the domestic debt stock of states, Adawawa N101.58 billion, Akwa Ibom N240.03 billion, Anambra N33.91 billion, Bauchi N100.40 billion, Bayelsa N154.95 billion, Benue N116.19 billion, Borno N83.38 billion and Cross River N165.91 billion within the review period.

Others include Delta N230.75 billion, Ebonyi N42.41 billion, Edo N84.76 billion, Ekiti N77.89 billion, Enugu N62.98 billion, Gombe N82.50 billion, Imo N163.99 billion, Jigawa N36.02 billion, Kaduna N78.69 billion, Kano N107.75 billion, Katsina N66.16 billion, Kebbi N69.26 billion and Kogi N128.91 billion.

Others are Kwara N62.89 billion, Nasarawa N60.99 billion, Niger N59.83 billion, Ogun N143.53, Ondo N65.29 billion, Osun N137.30 billion, Oyo N100.59 billion, Plateau N130.72 billion, Rivers N266.93 billion, Sokoto N47.74 billion, Taraba N81.26 billion, and Zamfara N70.84 billion as well as the FCT with N106.80 billion.

SOURCE;https://brandspurng.com/2020/07/13/domestic-debt-service-increased-by-295-in-q1-2020-nbs/

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Saturday charged all Nigerians to take responsibility as the nation joins the global community in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking as a Guest Speaker at the Virtual edition of the Lagos Leadership Conference, themed: “Leading in Extraordinary Times”, which was broadcast via Plus TV Africa, Governor Sanwo-Olu said the firm realisation that Lagos is the Nigerian epicentre of the pandemic and that the whole of the country is looking up to the State for leadership and for accomplishment, has been a driving force for his administration’s response to the pandemic.

He said: “COVID-19 pandemic is global and all of us have a role to play. Everybody has a role to play. It is only when everybody plays that role that we can put this pandemic behind us very quickly. As a government, we will continue to lead that conversation.

“We should continue to have various levels of engagement and various levels of communication. Everybody must be seen taking responsibility at this stage. We are fully out there and what is just remaining for us is just to keep this momentum and we believe that we will come out of it stronger and better.

“I will ask each and every one of us to take full responsibility, especially for our loved ones and ourselves. When we are going out, let us ensure we continue to obey the protocols. Let us wear our facemasks. Let us ensure we keep social distance8 or physical distancing and continue to listen to our health practitioners and the advice they give us.

“If you have any symptoms, do not wait until when it becomes very severe; get yourself a test, get yourself into one of our isolation centres and we can assure you that, you will be treated well and you will get well at the end of the day,”.

Governor Sanwo-Olu also assured Lagos residents that the State Government will ensure that all secondary and primary health facilities in the state become topnotch and available for citizens of the state, adding that his administration will ensure that the lessons of COVID-19 are not lost.

He said: “As a government, we will stop at nothing to ensure that; one, we scale up our infrastructural capability. We are doing that and we will continue to do that, even post-COVID to ensure that all our secondary and primary health facilities become topnotch and available for our citizens to have access.

“We will ensure that the lesson and the learning beyond COVID-19 are not lost on us as a leader and as a government. We will use the experiences and the issues that have come out of it to better prepare and plan for our citizens and be able to carry out people better going forward.”

Highlighting some of the steps taken by his administration to address the pandemic, Governor Sanwo-Olu disclosed that the state government took proactive, agile and informed decision-making, as well as prioritising the consistent and transparent communication in managing COVID-19 in Lagos State.

His words: “Without our hardworking, talented and committed people, the situation would be a lot worse. And by our People I mean our frontline health workers, support staff, law enforcement agencies, and the civil and public service.

At the top of the chain is a ‘War Room’ cabinet – a small team which I lead which liaises with several parts of Government. It is able to speedily process information, and make high-quality decisions. Very importantly also, this War Room cabinet is able to review its decision-making and amend it where necessary.

Let me add that a big part of managing people is motivating them, and I have made this a priority. For example, we increased Hazard Allowance by 400 per cent, and introduced a special COVID-19 Allowance, Accommodation and Welfare for frontline workers.

“As a leader, your organisation is only as successful as the quality of the decisions you are making or approving for it. we realised early the need to ensure that our decision-making was strongly informed by data modelling.

And that is what we have continued doing, as we seek to strike a difficult but necessary balance between protecting lives and sustaining livelihoods; balancing health and economics.

“ I have taken it as a personal responsibility to champion the Mask Up Lagos campaign. I have been a very visible adopter of online meetings. We switched to Virtual Cabinet Meetings here in Lagos even before the UK did.

Even when you watch our regular press briefing, one thing that stands out is the amount of effort that has gone into physical distancing, because optics are very important too. I want people to do not just as I’m saying but also as I’m doing.

“It is very important to empower team members along their lines of expertise and allow them to take ownership of the activities required of them. Humility on the part of a leader is very critical.”

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2020/07/11/covid-19-every-nigerian-must-take-responsibility-says-sanwo-olu/

To improve their yields and incomes, African cassava farmers need regular and reliable access to high-quality planting materials of the newest and best varieties.  Access to such cassava stems, however, is often a problem.  Agro dealers don’t sell them, and free distributions by NGOs and government programs are sporadic and unreliable.  Consequently, many cassava farmers are obliged to save stems of older varieties grown in their own fields or buy uncertified stems in informal markets of questionable quality and unknown identity.

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and its partners are working to address this problem by developing a new and more sustainable cassava seed system that makes high-quality stems of high yielding varieties available for sale to African farmers.  This work started in Nigeria five years ago as a program called Building an Economically Sustainable, Integrated Cassava Seed System (BASICS).  Some 150 cassava seed enterprises were created in Benue, Abia, Akwa Ibom, and Imo States to multiply and sell cassava stems, following a business model that is both profitable and beneficial to its farmer clients.  A sister project in Tanzania nurtured a similar network of cassava seed entrepreneurs.  Government agencies certify the stems to ensure quality.

In June, this program benefited from a new investment of $14.3 million by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to consolidate and expand this work in both Nigeria and Tanzania under the project name of BASICS-II.

The goal of the project is to provide farmers with access to affordable, quality-assured seeds of the cassava varieties in demand by local food and processor markets through the establishment of a commercially viable seed value chain operating across breeder, foundation, and commercial seed levels. BASICS-II will create more efficient dissemination and trigger the adoption of new varieties to improve productivity; raise incomes of cassava growers and seed entrepreneurs; enhance gender equity and contribute to inclusive agricultural transformation in Nigeria and Tanzania.

“The approval of BASICS-II provides a window of opportunity for cassava farmers to create new lines of income while at the same time catalyzing the diffusion of new varieties,” Dr Nteranya Sanginga, Director General, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), said today ahead of the launch of the project on Thursday, 25 June 2020.

According to Dr Alfred Dixon, IITA Director for Development & Delivery, and Technical Adviser to BASICS-II, “the coming of BASICS-II would not only create seed enterprises, but it would also spark the diffusion and adoption of improved disease-free cassava varieties that would offer farmers higher yield.”

“To me, this is the most exciting part of the project,” he added.

Over the years, IITA and its national partners have developed over 40 cassava varieties but the diffusion and adoption of these varieties have been low due to the absence of a functional seed system to incentivize their multiplication, distribution, and sales.

The 5-year project will be led by IITA, working in partnership with Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC), National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Catholic Relief Services (CRS), IITA GoSeed, Umudike Seed, Sahel Consulting Agriculture and Nutrition Ltd., Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI), and Tanzania Official Seed Certification (TOSCI).

Lawrence Kent, Senior Program Officer, Gates Foundation, said: “This new phase of the BASICS project will strengthen and expand its innovative approach to the supply of cassava planting materials, helping farmers in Nigeria, Tanzania, and eventually additional countries to access and purchase disease-free stems of the most productive, most demanded, and promising cassava varieties.”

Known as a poverty fighter, cassava is grown mostly by resource-poor farmers, but its productivity has been constrained by lack of access to improved varieties with national average yield reported at less than 10 tons per hectare in Nigeria. Even when the best of agronomic practices are employed, yields remain poor if the seeds are not right.

Through the activities of BASICS-II, it is envisaged that this narrative will be changed, says Prof. Lateef Sanni, Project Manager, BASICS-II.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2020/07/10/project-to-build-sustainable-cassava-seed-system-in-africa-gets-new-phase/

Bride price is not a unique Nigerian tradition, but it has been honoured in Nigeria for centuries. For millions of Nigerian families, marriage is not considered real until a bride price is paid. Bride price is also a very controversial topic that has many vocal critics, but it is still followed by lots of Nigerian newlyweds and their families.

Here is everything you need to know about it.

1. What Is Bride Price?
Bride price is a Nigerian wedding custom. Bride price is often confused with a dowry, but they are essentially the opposites of a single notion. A dowry is a property the bride invests in marriage, and a bride price is a collection of goods a husband-to-be brings to the bride’s family. This usually happens after the marriage proposal and for many families, the bride price is an essential step of the marriage process. Refusal of the groom to pay the bride price may result in a cancellation of the wedding or the bride’s family refusing to take any part in the ceremony and accepting the marriage at all.

The concept of bride price has existed in Nigeria for as long as the institution of marriage itself. Over the years, society’s attitude towards the bride price has changed repeatedly. Bride price has even made its way into the official legislation in Nigeria. However, since the 2000s, there has been a shift in society. Now more and more activists are advocating against the bride price as a degrading practice for women. Still, the bride price is alive and well in every Nigerian region and it’s usually up to the bride, the groom, and their respective families to settle this issue.

2. Bride Price List
You probably won’t be surprised to find out that the bride price list can differ from region to region and even from family to family. Once the groom indicates his decision to marry a girl and she accepts the proposal, the bride’s family issues a bride price list that they expect to receive in order to grant permission to the marriage.

In some cases, the groom receives a bride price list divided into four categories: gifts for the grown daughters in the extended family, gifts for the male heads of the family, general gifts for the family, and symbolic cash gifts. The list of gifts in each category may differ, but these are the most common categories and goods included in a modern bride price list in Nigeria:

Clothing, which is usually given to daughters or as general gifts and can include blouses, wrappers, shoes, accessories, jewellery, wristwatches, and other items women typically wear.
Toiletries, which can be given under any category of gifts and usually include soap, shampoo, perfume, makeup, skincare products, body lotions, and even washing detergents.
Food and drinks, which are a major part of gifts to the male members of the family and general gifts. This category can include dozens of types of products, from palm oil, rice, salt, dried fish, and kola nuts to Guinness beer, cigarettes, and soft drinks.
Cash gifts, which you may need to give to any category of the gift recipients if they indicate their expectations in the price list.

3. Average Bride Price Cost
It’s nearly impossible to calculate the average bride price cost in Nigeria for just one reason: the bride price lists can be so diverse that one family will gladly accept a bride price worth ₦1000 while other families can expect the groom to go all the way. In general, the bride price cost is recommended to be under ₦100,000 and can be as low as ₦20,000-30,000. The idea is to make the groom demonstrate his serious intentions of marrying the bride, not deprive him of his life savings.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2020/07/10/bride-price-in-nigeria-history-lists-average-costs/

Total of 158,589 vehicles was sold during the second quarter, representing a 3 percent growth year-over-year and 78.7 percent sales increase compared to the first quarter of 2020Strong consumer demand and favourable product mix supported by new vehicle launches helped drive sales reboundTransit commercial vehicles experienced solid year-over-year growth of 60.9 percent, as did Lincoln luxury vehicles on gains of 12.0 percent.

Ford and its joint ventures, Changan Ford, JMC and Ford Lio-Ho, sold 158,589 vehicles in Greater China in the second quarter. Driven by strong demand following the lifting of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, Ford’s quarterly sales grew 3 percent year-over-year and 78.7 percent quarter-to-quarter.

The company’s refreshed vehicle lineup, including the addition of the all-new Ford Escape and Lincoln Corsair, offered a favourable product mix to meet consumer needs. Sales were particularly strong in the commercial vehicle and luxury segments. Double-digit year-over-year increases were achieved by Transit commercial vehicles with sales of 15,007 units, up 60.9 percent, and Lincoln luxury vehicles with sales of 13,896 units, up 12.0 percent.

Second-quarter sales highlights

Ford brand SUVs sold 30,462 units in the second quarter, flat year-over-year, but an increase of 82.1 percent over the first quarter. Sales of the all-new Escape reached 11,290 units in the second quarter, while orders for the locally built Explorer, launched in mid-June, surpassed 2,000 units in the first two weeks of its launchLincoln brand luxury vehicles experienced consecutive sales increases in the three months of the quarter. Sales in May and June both exceeded the monthly record of 5,000 units, driven in large part by the popularity of the newly launched, locally built Lincoln Corsair, which sold 6,968 units in the quarter.JMC sales of both Ford and indigenous brand vehicles reached 80,224 units in the second quarter, representing 33.8 percent growth year-over-year and more than double the volume sold in the firstFord Lio-Ho sold 5,223 vehicles in Taiwan in the quarter, an increase of 1.8 percent year-over-year and 7.0 percent quarter-to-quarter. All-new Ford Kuga, also launched in mid-June in Taiwan, received nearly 2,000 orders. Second-quarter sales volume was impacted by pandemic-related supply issues, which have since been resolved, and the delayed launch of the all-new Kuga.

Ford China intends to build on its sales momentum by accelerating the launch of new products and localization strategies. June’s launch of the locally built all-new Explorer strengthened also includes Escape, Kuga, Edge and Territory S to address a wide spectrum of consumer needs.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2020/07/09/66652/

Hyundai Motor Company today released a design rendering of the new Elantra N Line sport sedan and revealed other details about the new performance-inspired offering that will hit showrooms.

Hyundai‘s all-new Elantra N Line is distinguished by low and wide styling, expressed on the fascia by an edgy N Line version of Hyundai’s signature cascading grille, N Line badging and motorsport-inspired air intake. Elantra N Line’s side skirts and 18-inch alloy wheels with larger brakes further emphasize the sporty aesthetic. The side mirrors, N Line window accents and side skirts are all finished in the N brand signature gloss black. The sculpted rear brings the low and wide styling to its natural conclusion with single twin exhausts and rear diffuser.

“Elantra N Line offers a more aggressive design that incorporates N Line’s signature red accents inside and out at an attractive price,” said Thomas Schemera, Executive Vice President, Head of Product Division at Hyundai Motor Group. “This will definitely satisfy those who are looking to join the Hyundai N community.”

With its well-established Elantra nameplate – now in its seventh generation – Hyundai expects the Elantra N Line to provide an attractive entry point for the N Brand, which is gaining popularity with drivers and performance enthusiasts around the world. Hyundai already offers Veloster N, i30 N and i30 Fastback N, as well as several N Line models in select markets. The N models bring full performance capability to daily driving while N Line trims add performance-inspired elements to base model vehicles.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2020/07/08/hyundai-motor-unveils-rendering-of-new-elantra-n-line/

As people are firing up barbecues across Europe, Nestlé has improved its Garden Gourmet plant-based burger to give it an even meatier taste and texture.

It is now so incredibly juicy and incredibly delicious that it really deserves a name that does it justice: Garden Gourmet Sensational Burger.

The new burger is appearing in stores (and on grills) across Europe now. Aside from its even more meat-like flavour and texture, the burger now also cooks better, making that transformation from raw to cooked with a satisfying sizzle.

It is the second upgrade to the Garden Gourmet plant-based burger in just over a year since it was first launched. Further improvements and innovations for the burger and other plant-based products are expected later this year, as Nestlé’s plant protein experts, food scientists and chefs continue to listen to consumer feedback and create an exciting product pipeline.

Wayne England, head of Nestlé‘s food business, said: “As consumers around the world seek healthier, more sustainable diets, we have created some of the tastiest and healthiest plant-based foods available. The new Garden Gourmet ‘Sensational’ name evokes the senses that are stimulated by our burger: the visible transformation and aroma when cooking, the sound of it sizzling in the pan or on the grill, the great taste and texture.”

The Garden Gourmet Sensational Burger still has some of the best nutritional values of any plant-based burger on the market, scoring a Nutri-Score ‘A’ rating. It also accounts for much lower CO2 emissions, water and land use than a beef burger.

It combines natural soy and wheat protein, colour from natural plant extracts, rapeseed and coconut oil and a proprietary method of fermenting plant-based ingredients to boost the ‘umami’ flavour of the burger.

Torsten Pohl, Head of the Nestlé Product Technology Center in Singen, Germany, which specializes in plant-based foods, said: “We are focused on delivering competitive plant-based products which are both nutritious and great-tasting. Our experts continuously explore new technologies and recipes, to deliver a wide range of plant-based innovations that have the right texture, the right taste, as well as a superior nutritional profile.”

Nestlé is committed to providing more delicious, nutritious and sustainable plant-based options for consumers around the globe. People are continuing to look for different ways to eat more healthily and lower the environmental footprint of their diets. Nestlé has announced its ambition to achieve zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, including by offering more plant-based food and beverages.

Nestlé has been working in plant-based food for around 20 years. The Garden Gourmet brand enjoys a heritage that goes back around 35 years as a pioneer in plant-based food.

As Wayne England added: “We know plant-based food and we know meat substitutes. We have been doing this as long as anybody and will continue to focus our energy on what really matters to consumers – delivering truly outstanding plant-based products that are good for people and for the planet.”

Other Garden Gourmet ‘no compromise’ products, including plant-based sausages and grounds, will also carry the ‘Sensational’ name going forward.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2020/07/08/nestles-new-recipe-plant-based-burger-is-now-sensational/

United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), the leading pan-African financial services group, is pleased to announce the appointments of Ayoku Liadi and Oliver Alawuba as Deputy Managing Directors in charge of UBA’s Nigeria and Africa businesses, respectively.

The creation of the new positions, reporting to Group CEO, Kennedy Uzoka, represents further strategic recognition of the growth of UBA’s pan-African business, now representing in excess of 40% of Group revenue, and the critical importance of Nigeria, the Group’s largest market.

Combined with UBA’s unique International Business, operating from New York, London and Paris, UBA Africa and Nigeria, offer an unparalleled service offering to clients across Africa and globally.

Commenting on the appointments, Group Chairman Tony O. Elumelu said:
“In 2005, we set out our pan-African vision. Fifteen years later, we are present in 20 African countries, serving over 20 million clients, leveraging our service culture and technology platform, to provide an integrated and seamless customer offering across the continent.
In Africa, we lead in innovation and service, whilst our International Business, operating from New York, Paris and London, provides global and African clients access to treasury, trade finance and corporate banking products, uniquely tailored to the African opportunity.
These senior appointments represent our commitment to optimise our management structure to best serve our clients and drive our business success.”
Oliver Alawuba has worked with the UBA Group for almost 20 years and was appointed in January 2020, CEO for the Group’s Africa operations and Oliver’s knowledge of UBA’s business in Africa is unrivalled. He previously held the role as CEO of UBA in Ghana and more recently, as Regional CEO for UBA in Anglophone Africa.

Ayo Liadi joined the UBA Group in 2014 and was appointed the Executive Director of Lagos and West bank in Nigeria, two years later. Ayo is widely recognised for his innovation in driving business development.

Also announced today by the UBA Group Board, was the retirement from the Board with effect from August 01, 2020, of Dan Okeke who has been with the UBA Group for 22 years. Dan served on the Board as an Executive Director for three terms and a total of nine years.

According to the Group Chairman, “Dan was born for UBA. He has worked tirelessly for the Group and achieved so much in the past two decades. We will miss him, but he will still be very much around us”.
UBA is one of the largest employers in the financial sector on the African continent, with approximately 20,000 employees’ group-wide and serving over 20 million customers.

Operating in 20 African countries and globally in the United Kingdom, the United States and France, UBA provides retail, commercial and institutional banking services, leading financial inclusion and implementing cutting edge products such as the first-ever banking chatbot in Africa, LEO.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2020/07/07/uba-group-announces-appointment-of-deputy-managing-directors-for-nigeria-and-africa/

It comes after a string of corporate failures, including Carillion and BHS, led to calls for a shake-up of the sector

PwC, Deloitte, KPMG and EY have been told by the accounting watchdog to separate their auditing units from their consulting businesses by June 2024.

The Financial Reporting Council said the objective of the operational separation by the Big Four is to ensure that audit practices are focused on the delivery of high-quality audits in the public interest and do not rely on persistent cross-subsidy from the rest of the firm.

The firms must outline their plans to implement all 22 of the FRC’s principles by October 23 and have completed the measures by June 2024 at the latest.

The move represents the biggest shake-up of the audit industry in decades and comes after a string of corporate failures, including Carillion and BHS, which led to three government-backed reviews that recommended wide-scale reforms.

Regulators say that the companies’ lucrative advisory arms create a conflict with their auditing divisions as it encourages auditors to be restrained in order to protect consulting opportunities.

Sir Jon Thompson, the FRC’s chief executive, said: “Operational separation of audit practices is one element of the FRC’s strategy to improve the quality and effectiveness of corporate reporting and audit in the United Kingdom following the Kingman, CMA and Brydon reviews.

“Today the FRC has delivered a major step in the reform of the audit sector by setting principles for operational separation of audit practices from the rest of the firm.

“The FRC remains fully committed to the broad suite of reform measures on corporate reporting and audit reform and will introduce further aspects of the reform package over time.’

Under the new principles, the finances of audit divisions must be ringfenced with a separate profit and loss account and firms will have to introduce an independent audit board to oversee the practice.

The Big Four now generate the majority of their revenues from consultancy practices, with only around 20pc coming from the audit.

The post Auditors told to separate consulting work first appeared in The Telegraph on July 06, 2020

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2020/07/07/big-4-accounting-firms-ordered-to-separate-operations/

Konnect, a subsidiary of Eutelsat Communications, pursues its ambition to connect the entire African continent to very high-speed Internet, and more particularly in this context of the current health crisis. Konnect has recently proposed to offer broadband internet connection to isolation centres to fight against Covid-19 in Sokoto, a north-western state in Nigeria, where it will enable the real-time connection of centres, leading to effective coordination of medical services and improved the care offer thanks to telemedicine.

With this offer, Konnect joins the fight of several African governments to combat Covid-19 by allowing access to care for the greatest number of people. Each isolation center will benefit from free broadband connectivity. This deployment is made possible through the partnership with Coollink, a foremost ISP in Nigeria.

Commenting on the agreement, Jean-Claude Tshipama, CEO of Konnect Africa, said: “This operation demonstrates our ability to meet as quickly as possible the connectivity needs of institutional and commercial structures, even in complex times like these. We want Sokoto State to benefit from our expertise and the quality of our broadband services by providing FREE connectivity to all isolation centers.”

Shahin Nouri, CEO of Coollink, added: “Helping the Sokoto State Government to provide free satellite internet services to isolation centres is very important to us. It shows our engagement to deliver high-speed Internet anywhere in Nigeria and to help communities in crisis. Eutelsat Konnect has been a very important partner for us, and with such initiatives, is showing its commitment to the Nigerian market.”

Sokoto State Government Commissioner for Health, Dr Muhammad Ali Inname said: “Konnect has shown great concern towards the good people of Sokoto state by providing internet connectivity to three Covid-19 Isolation centres in the state. This gesture will go a long way in facilitating the management of Covid-19 patients in the state.”

Konnect, in partnership with Coollink, has been operating in Nigeria since 2017, with the ambition of offering broadband connectivity to all segments of the population, in particular those located in unserved or underserved areas.

Konnect offers an affordable and flexible solution, available everywhere. Konnect will see its in-orbit resources increase tenfold with the entry into service of the EUTELSAT KONNECT satellite in the coming months. With a total capacity of 75 Gbps, EUTELSAT KONNECT will be able to provide very high-speed Internet of up to 100 Mbps, guaranteeing full coverage of Nigeria and 40 other African countries.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2020/07/07/konnect-africa-offers-broadband-internet-connection-to-all-isolation-centers-in-sokoto-state-nigeria-to-fight-against-covid-19/

Fidelity Bank Plc has announced that two of its Board members: Mr. Ernest Ebi (MFR) who has been serving as Chairman, Board of Directors and Mr. Seni Adetu who has been serving as an Independent Non-Executive Director, having successfully completed their tenure in accordance with the Bank’s internal governance policy, will be stepping down from the Board.

Under the Chairmanship of Mr. Ernest Ebi, the Bank recorded significant growth across key financial metrics with both Messrs. Ebi and Adetu playing significant roles, complementing management effort in the delivery of these milestones; in service of the long term vision of the Bank. The Bank’s market share position has also been materially strengthened over this period.

The Board and Management of the Bank seize this Opportunity to express sincere appreciation to Messrs. Ebi and Adetu for their significant contributions to the growth and development of the Bank during their tenure on the Board.

The Board is also pleased to announce that the retiring Chairman will be succeeded by Mr. Mustafa Chike-Obi.

The Central Bank of Nigeria has approved the appointment. Mr. Chike-Obi is Executive Vice Chairman at Alpha African Advisory. He has over 40 years of experience in investment banking and the financial services sector, working with reputable global investment banking and asset management firms.

He provides overall leadership at Alpha African Advisory and has direct oversight over the Capital raising division. Prior to joining Alpha African Advisory, he was the inaugural CEO of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), a Federal Government-backed institution, established to resolve the problem of non-performing loan assets of Nigerian Banks after the 2008 global financial crisis.

Mr Chike Obi was Founding President at Madison Advisors, a financial services advisory and consulting firm in New Jersey, specializing in hedge funds and private equity investment advice. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from the University of Lagos (First Class Honors) and an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Mr. Ebi will, however, continue in the role until August 14, 2020, when the in-coming Chairman assumes office, as part of the process of ensuring a smooth and successful transition. The changes being announced further attest to Fidelity Bank’s high governance standards and best practices in compliance with internal succession policies.

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2020/07/06/fidelity-bank-plc-appoints-mustafa-chike-obi-as-board-chairman/

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

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

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

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

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2020/07/06/atlas-petroleum-resumes-development-of-oml109-in-nigeria/

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

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

The statement reads:

THE ADVERSE IMPACT OF THE SHARP CONTRACTION IN ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES AND THE KNOCK-ON EFFECT OF THE COVID-19 LOCKDOWN TOOK A TOLL ON THE ON-TRADE SEGMENT OF THE BUSINESS ACROSS ALL OUR MARKETS. PRODUCTION AND REVENUES HAVE THUS BEEN NEGATIVELY AFFECTED.

GUINNESS NIGERIA CARRIED OUT A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF ITS ASSET BASE AND MADE A STRATEGIC DECISION TO IMPAIR A CERTAIN CATEGORY OF ASSETS, WHICH WERE GENERATING SUBOPTIMAL RETURNS. THIS IS IN LINE WITH THE COMPANY’S LONG-TERM STRATEGY OF DELIVERING VALUE TO SHAREHOLDERS.

DUE TO A COMBINATION OF THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 AND THE ASSET IMPAIRMENT, WE EXPECT THE PROFITABILITY OF THE COMPANY FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR TO 30TH JUNE 2020 TO BE IMPACTED. THE COMPANY’S BALANCE SHEET, HOWEVER, REMAINS STRONG, AND THIS GIVES THE BOARD THE CONFIDENCE THAT THE COMPANY HAS THE RIGHT RESOURCES TO CONTINUE TO DELIVER THE STRATEGY.

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

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

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

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

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2020/07/06/guinness-nigeria-plc-warns-investors-of-2020-financial-results/

The global market for smartphone battery cells reached a total value of $1.5 billion in Q1 2020, according to the Strategy Analytics Handset Component Technologies service report, “Smartphone Battery Market Share Q1 2020: LG Chem Closing in on ATL.”

According to this research report, the total smartphone battery market witnessed a 5 percent year-over-year revenue growth in Q1 2020. TDK owned Amperex Technology Ltd. managed to keep its smartphone battery market share leadership with 36.5 percent revenue share in Q1 2020, followed by LG Chem and Samsung SDI. The top-three vendors captured almost 82 percent revenue share in the global smartphone battery market in Q1 2020.

“The battery cell market for smartphones observed an annual increase in revenue owing to adoption of higher cell capacities and custom-designed lithium-ion polymer (Li-Po) cells by smartphone OEMs,” says Jeffrey Mathews, Analyst at Strategy Analytics.

Jeffrey added, “ATL supplied battery cells with higher capacities to leading smartphone OEMs while LG Chem expanded its customer base with design wins in flagship smartphones.”

Stuart Robinson, Executive Director Handset Component Technologies Service at Strategy Analytics, commented, “The demand for smartphone battery cells is expected to be impacted by the slowdown in smartphone shipments and global smartphone production halts due to COVID-19 pandemic. We note that battery cell vendors would supply OEMs with customized battery cells in flagship smartphones to drive revenue in CY 2020.”

SOURCE:https://brandspurng.com/2020/06/30/atl-leads-the-smartphone-battery-market-with-36-revenue-share-in-q1-2020/