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A leading supermarket chain, SPAR, has introduced free Wi-Fi in its 12 stores across the country.

The free Wi-Fi, which began its debut at the Ilupeju branch of the hypermarket, would be implemented across other SPAR stores nationwide.

SPAR spokesperson, John Goldsmith, said in a statement that the free Wi-Fi service would be available to shoppers using a smartphone, tablet or a laptop that has built-in Wi-Fi.

“We are glad to announce the launch of Free Wi-Fi service from SPAR Ilupeju store. We are sure the Free Wi-Fi service is in line with our shopper expectation and it will surely delight our shoppers and add joy to their shopping experience,” he said.

According to him, Wi-Fi routers are placed in strategic locations inside the store so that shoppers can enjoy a seamless browsing experience in each and every corner of the store.

“We have done an extensive heat mapping of the shopper flow inside our stores and identified the best locations to deploy the routers. “As it happens in all product and service launches, we too will go through a learning phase which will help us fine tune service to deliver superior connectivity for all our shoppers,” Goldsmith said.

He said SPAR shoppers would need to complete a one-time registration with their email address after which they would be able to use a maximum of 30 minutes of free Wi-Fi daily.

“Shoppers can come every day and use Free Wi-Fi for 30 minutes which is a fair approximation to time spent in the store. “One of the core pillars of SPAR is customer service and free Wi-Fi is one of the must-have for today’s aspiring customer in a modern retail store.

“In Africa’s emerging economy, free Wi-Fi is one such value-added service that shopper especially the youth segment looks for in any place of shopping location. “Our most exciting moments are captured when our shoppers come into our stores, have a fantastic experience and leave satisfied,’’ said the SPAR spokesperson.

SOURCE: https://brandspurng.com/spar-supermarket-introduces-wi-fi-in-nigerian-stores/

The Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, on Friday, disclosed that the number of out-of-school children in the country dropped from 10.5 million to 8.6 million in the last three years.

“When President Buhari came to power in 2015, UNICEF said out-of-school children in Nigeria was about 10.5 million. But I want to tell Nigerians that with the effort of this president, especially with the school feeding programme, it dropped from 10.5 million to 8.6 million as of last year.

The government has put so many programmes in place to encourage our children to have access to schools,” said
Adamu, who was represented by the Registrar, Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), Prof. Ajiboye Josiah.

At the flag-off of the 2017/2018 National Enrolment Drive, at Tudun Salmanu Primary School in Bauchi, Adamu said the ministry made it a policy to construct and furnish 7,875 classrooms yearly for the next four years. This is beside recruiting additional teachers to cater for the increase in pupils’ enrolment.

He stressed that the ministry introduced Tsangaya (Quranic schools) and the Enrolment Drive Policy to reduce the number of street children. He said the ministry signed a MoU with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to enlist children in hard-to-reach areas.

Flagging-off the campaign, Bauchi State governor, Mohammed Abubakar, noted that the educational infrastructure in the state had been overstretched, following the influx of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

Abubakar, represented by his Special Adviser on Education, Alhaji Sabo Mohammed, called on the Federal Government to help the state to cope with the challenge.Earlier, the Executive Chairman, Bauchi State Universal Primary Education Board (SUBEB), Prof. Yahya Yero, said the campaign was in conformity with the National Enrolment Drive FrameWork (NEDF) for 2018.

SOURCE: https://brandspurng.com/nigeria-out-of-school-children-reduced-to-8-6m-from-10-5m-minister/

Nigeria has issued the Income Tax (Country-by-Country Reporting) Regulations 2018 (the CbCR Regulations). The Regulations are part of the implementation plans under Action 13 of OECD’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project. 

This is also a follow-up to Nigeria’s signing of the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) for the automatic exchange of Country-by-Country reports in January 2016, which was subsequently ratified by the Federal Executive Council in August 2016.

The CbCR Regulations provide guidance to multinational enterprises (MNEs) on their reporting obligations to Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in relation to their group income, taxes paid, and other indicators of their group economic activity. This information will enable FIRS to perform high-level transfer pricing risk assessment as well as evaluate other BEPS related risks.

The issuing of the CbCR Regulations further underscores Nigerian Government’s resolve to fight aggressive tax avoidance schemes and profit shifting in Nigeria. The CbCR Regulations are expected to empower FIRS to put in place adequate frameworks and mechanisms to enable it to collaborate with the revenue authorities of other tax jurisdictions in fighting BEPS.

We will provide detailed commentary on the CbCR Regulations in a subsequent newsletter.

The post-Nigeria issues the Income Tax (Country-by-Country Reporting) Regulations 2018appeared first on Deloitte Nigeria Blog.

SOURCE: https://brandspurng.com/nigeria-issues-the-income-tax-country-by-country-reporting-regulations-2018/

Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is to build more depots across the Country, reports Brand Spur Nigeria.

NNPC Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru who disclosed this Monday in Abuja while inaugurating the board of one of its downstream Companies, NNPC Retail limited, said the addition to the corporation’s existing 23 depots nationwide would ease products supply and distribution in the country.

Dr. Baru who charged the members of the board to expand the company’s market share from 13 to 30 percent said building more depots by the corporation was more feasible than acquiring dormant ones.

He lauded NNPC Retail for its strong intervention to wet the market at a time when other downstream players were playing underhand games to create artificial scarcity.

The GMD tasked the board to aggressively see to the expansion of the NNPC Retail beyond the shores of Nigeria, adding: “By mid-2019, you should be having plans to go into the sub-region, this board should propel NNPC Retail into a new height’’.

On diversification and backward integration, the GMD directed the company to venture into lubricants production, marine, and industrial services to boost its revenue profile as it was a line with our quest as an integrated oil company

Responding, Chairman of the board and Chief Operating Officer (COO), Gas and Power, Engr. Saidu Mohammed said as an NNPC-owned company, the watchword for NNPC Retail should be “efficiency and profitability, especially in a downstream system like ours that is highly competitive”.

He pledged the commitment of the board and management of the company to the attainment of the goals of the corporation.

Managing Director of the Company, Mr. Yemi Adetunji, expressed delight that the GMD had reinforced the vision of the company to expand beyond the shores of Nigeria, adding that the targets were achievable especially with the support of the board and management of the company.

Other members of the board include Engineer Henry Ikem Obih, Chief Operating Officer (COO), Downstream, as alternate Chairman; COO, Refineries, Engr. Anibo Kragha; GGM, Shipping, Hajia Aisha Ahmadu Katagun;  Mr. Yemi Adetunji and some other top Management Staff.

Mrs. Obioma Agbambo, Company Secretary and Legal Adviser, NNPC Retail, will serve as Secretary to the board.



SOURCE: https://brandspurng.com/nnpc-to-build-more-depots-expand-market-share/

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh on Saturday distributed 370 motorcycles to extension workers to improve their efficiency and ensure quality service delivery to farmers in the country.

The motorcycles were given to the extension officers as a soft loan at 50 percent discount.

The minister also inaugurated the National Farmer Help Line (NFHL) Centre, to facilitate effective communication between extension workers and farmers across the country.

Ogbeh said that Nigeria must diversify her economy to overcome shocks from oil price fluctuations, adding that Nigeria has abundant natural resources and must tap them.

He said Nigeria’s diversification policy must help the country to withstand fiscal shocks, combat monetary instability and provide employment opportunities for the populace.

To achieve this, the minister said President Muhammadu Buhari had directed the inauguration of four special committees, including the committee on Revitalisation of Agricultural Extension Services in Nigeria.

Ogbeh decried that extension services in the country had declined due to the non-availability of World Bank loans from the early part of the year 2000.

“In an effort to re-engineer extension service delivery in the country, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has decided to tackle the issue from the foundation. One of such fundamental issues is the provision of mobility to the extension agents in the State’s Agricultural Development Programmes (ADP) in all states of the federation,” the minister stated.

He said practice had shown that motorcycles were the most efficient means of transportation for agricultural extension workers, hence the need to provide the workers with the motorcycles.

On his part, the Director, National Agriculture Extension and Research Liaison, NAERLS, Prof. Mohammed Othman-Khalid listed challenges impeding research to include late disbursement of funds and outdated research facilities.

Othman-Khalid noted that the institute had trained about 30,000 youths under the N-Power scheme, as well as provided assistance to farmers to obtain N100 million loans in 2016/2017, which had been fully repaid.

Director, Extension Services, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Karima Babangida, lamented the extension worker-farmer ratio which stood at 1:10,000 and 1:25,000 in some states.

She said that 10 motorcycles would be given to each ADP which would be distributed to the agents in the states.

The director said the motorcycles distribution was being launched in all the six geopolitical zones across the country, urging beneficiaries to put them to good use to improve productivity.

On the farmers’ helpline, she said the ministry would provide facilities in all the zonal centers in the six geo-political zones, to assist farmers through the National Farmer Help Line.

The NFHL has the shortcode 1422 for farmers to have easy access to information.

SOURCE: https://brandspurng.com/fg-distributes-motorcycles-to-extension-workers-inaugurates-helpline-for-farmers/

FSDH Research forecasts a Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of 3.16% in 2018 and 4.09% in 2019. Our forecast for 2018 is slightly higher than the forecast of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) of 2.5% and 2.1% respectively. However, with the population growing at 2.75%, the country requires growth rate in excess of 5% to substantially improve the wellbeing of Nigerians. 



Agriculture, Trade, and Mining & Quarrying sectors, with forecast growth rates of 4%, 2%, and 3.2% would drive the 3.16% growth rate in 2018. Other leading sectors of the economy that would contribute to the growth are Information and Communication (I&C): 2.2%; Real Estate: 2.5%; Construction: 4% and Manufacturing: 1%.

Agriculture, with a growth of 3.06%; Mining and Quarrying: 25.44% and Other Services: 1.72% were the three leading sectors that contributed to the growth rate of 1.40% recorded in Q3 2017. The increase in the supply of foreign exchange has improved economic activities across other sectors of the Nigerian economy. 



FSDH Research has observed increased activities in Agriculture, Mining and Quarrying (oil and gas), manufacturing, Trade, Real Estate and I&C in the last few months. The growth in the equity market has created additional wealth that would stimulate effective demand in the economy. Some light manufacturing activities are also taking place – stimulating demand for raw materials from Agriculture. The current oil price will encourage investment activities in the oil and gas sector. Trade sector would also benefit from the increase in consumer purchasing power.  



FSDH Research notes that there are downside risks to the forecast growth. The rising social unrest in some parts of the country may affect economic activities and lead to escalating inflation rate. A significant drop in oil price may also have a negative impact on the growth prospect. FSDH Research will highlight the implications of the GDP growth forecast on businesses and financial market in our next week article.


SOURCE: https://brandspurng.com/fsdh-research-forecasts-a-gdp-growth-rate-of-3-16-in-2018/

A solar farm is a group of solar arrays on bare open land prepared for the main purpose of generating power from the sun’s energy. A typical large scale solar farm use hundreds or thousands of PV panels to convert the sun’s rays into electricity.

On the average, most households use individual home systems to provide electricity.But Solar farms are designed to provide electricity to communities and homes on a large scale.

Solar power stands apart from fossil fuels in terms of both the way energy is produced and how it can be controlled. Unlike fossil fuel operations, people and communities can own and control small-scale solar power installations, saving on their energy bills and even generating credits. In a context where climate change and economic reforms have made farming increasingly vulnerable, solar power is an opportunity to save on energy costs and build on self-sufficiency while contributing to a just transition away from fossil fuels.

How do they work?

A solar panel farm feeds power into the electrical grid just as fossil-fuel energy plants do, except that solar farms produce no pollution of any kind, and use very little water compared to traditional power plants.

How long does it take to build a solar farm? The construction period is 16 weeks from start to finish. After construction, access to operations and maintenance activities are limited to three or four times per year.

Photovoltaic (PV) cells made of silicon are constructed into panels, each gathering a small amount of sunlight energy. The panels are installed on short towers over an area as big as 100 acres. Some solar farms fix their PV panels into a static position; other farms use solar tracking systems that move the panels to follow the sun. Multiple panels are required to generate significant electricity, which is why solar panel farm arrays are so large. Solar developers either buy the land for their panels or lease it from businesses, government agencies or private individuals.

Another form of solar farming energy is concentrated solar power, which uses mirrors or lenses to concentrate sunlight and create heat, which drives a variety of conventional generator systems. PV solar farms are more popular and in much greater use, outnumbering concentrated solar power installations by 40 to one.

With current PV technology, solar farming developers need approximately 2.5 acres of solar panels in high-intensity sun areas to produce a megawatt of electricity; in moderate sun locations, about five acres of panels are needed to produce a megawatt. A megawatt is one million watts, and enough energy to power 650 residential homes for one day.

SOURCE: https://brandspurng.com/how-solar-farms-provide-electricity-and-support-the-local-grid/

Hmmmmm

Good one from one of the best brands around.

Daigeo has declined to comment on documents that suggest it is preparing to launch a new Scotch whiskey product under its Johnnie Walker brand, called The Jane Walker Edition.

The drinks giant submitted a trademark application to the United States Patent and Trademark Office earlier this month.

The application states the firm will be using the trademark name for “alcoholic beverages except beer”.



Furthermore, labels submitted by Diageo in an application to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) also show a drawing of a woman dressed similar to the iconic striding man logo, and a bottle label stating ‘The Jane Walker Edition’.

Diageo refused to comment on the documents, but a representative told The Spirits Business: “If and when we have more to say – we’ll let you know.”

An earlier report by Adweek speculated that Jane Walker had initially been floated to celebrate the election of Hillary Clinton as US president, but the concept was put on hold following her defeat.

The news follows Diageo’s commitment to increasing female representation in its global senior leadership team to 40% by 2025.

Diageo was named third in the FTSE 100 for women on boards and in leadership roles by the Hampton-Alexander review.

 

The Spirit Business…

SOURCE: https://brandspurng.com/johnnie-walker-to-introduce-jane-walker/

Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency in Africa, will hold the second edition of the Africa Travel Awards on Thursday, January 25, 2018. For this edition, the ceremony will be held simultaneously in 8 countries: Nigeria, Algeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Uganda, Senegal, and Tanzania.

The awards aim at promoting Nigeria’s tourism sector and responds to the need of encouraging hoteliers to improve the quality of their services for the further advancement of their respective destinations.



There are 7 categories to be awarded including Customer’s Favorite Hotel 2017, Customer’s Favorite Airline Company 2017, Best Destination Website 2017, Jumia Travel’s Booking Award 2017, Traveler’s Choice Hotel 2017, Best Leisure Hotel in Nigeria 2017, and Best Business Hotel in Nigeria 2017.

A jury panel, made up of high-level tourism professionals in the country, has been put together to judge the nominated hotels and ultimately decide on the winners. The jury’s decision will contribute 50% of the outcome, while the other 50% will be from the public through a voting process.

In Nigeria, vote here.

The winners of the African Travel Awards 2018 will be honored during a cocktail held on January 25, 2018, simultaneously in Lagos, Algiers, Dakar, Abidjan, Accra, Douala, Dar Es Salaam, and Kampala.

PROMOTING TOURISM IN AFRICA

The annual event is supported by tourism organizations and stakeholders.

“By organizing these African Travel Awards, our mission is not only to recognize and reward the merit of local tourism stakeholders, but also to provide a credible benchmark for the African tourism industry,” said Joe Falter, CEO of Jumia Travel.

Follow the Awards conversation on social networks: #JumiaTravelAwards2018

SOURCE: https://brandspurng.com/jumia-travel-launches-2nd-edition-of-african-travel-awards/

Ok

A new year and your brand would have listed out their goals it wants to achieve by the end of the year. But bear in mind that no matter how hard your brand works, If you do not have this digital marketing skills, It may be nearly impossible to achieve that set goals.

Our focus turns to the essential skills needed to excel in the New Year. As the digital industry is in constant flux, there is a perpetual pressure on marketers to stay up to date with the latest developments and newest product releases.

The need for digital marketers has never been higher, yet the digital skills gap has never been wider. This discrepancy can provide you with the perfect opportunity to demonstrate your value and competency – you just need to make sure you’ve strengthened the right skills. If you want to set yourself apart from the competition and establish yourself as an in-demand marketing professional, you need to know which capabilities count. That’s why we’ve created this list of the top 5 digital marketing skills you should refine in 2018.

1. Search Engine Optimization

93% of online experiences begin with a search engine. This means that now, more than ever, Search Engine Optimization skills are an essential asset. Although it may seem like a nebulous specialism, due to ever-evolving practices and search engine algorithm updates, 70% of the links search users click on are organic, so if you can master SEO, you have the potential to drive more traffic and more conversation to your site.

Whether you aspire to become an SEO specialist, or you outsource organic search marketing, it’s important to have a comprehensive understanding of its core functions and benefits. This will allow you to easily analyze results and take the right action (or send a detailed brief to your agency) accordingly.

Develop an awareness of the importance of keyword research and implementation, the nuances of content (how much is too much, and what is relevant) and the best methods for acquiring quality links. SEO skills are based on a combination of creative and technical elements. In other words, know when to utilize guest blogging and what constitutes a suitably compelling topic, but also be able to analyze your site for key errors, such as broken links and 404s.

2. Video Content Marketing

In 2017 video marketing will account for 69% of all consumer traffic, mobile video ads will grow 5 times faster than desktop and landing pages with videos can generate 800% more conversions. Though content marketing has been heralded as an essential specialism over the past few years, the video is equally, if not more deserving of your mastery.

It’s unsurprising that YouTube is the world’s second largest search engine– video content is easy to consume and generates enhanced levels of engagement. It’s a formidable marketing platform that is often underused due to a lack of necessary skills. If you take the time to truly understand video content marketing, you’ll be able to reach a much larger audience and make your brand distinct and memorable.

Make the most of meta-descriptions and tag your videos with keywords in order to optimize them for search, not only YouTube but Google and its peers too. From a content perspective, learn to storyboard and execute videos that anticipate your target audience’s needs and interests, and convey your brand in a creative, humanizing way. Look to well-established brands such as Guinness and Apple – though you may not be able to emulate their budget, there’s a lot you can learn from their ability to craft a compelling story.

3. Community Management

78% of small businesses now get at least one-quarter of new customers from social media, undeniable evidence that organizations need to embrace social. However, there’s much more to it than optimizing your images on Facebook and running paid ads. Social channels are essential for cultivating a positive customer experience, and if your organization owns them, you have a responsibility to nurture and maintain your community. This may seem like a time-consuming prospect, but learning how to develop meaningful social relationships with your target audience segments can generate a significant return on investment. The more you know about your customers’ needs, challenges and preferences, the better you can engage them.

4. Marketing Automation

 91% of the most successful marketing automation users agree that it is “very important” to the overall success of their marketing across channels. As the digital marketing landscape evolves and expands, marketers are expected to complete an infinite amount of tasks with a finite amount of resources. By learning how to implement and use marketing automation, you’ll be able to achieve this seemingly unachievable feat.

Find out how to set up workflows so you can share personalized content that is tailored to your target audience at every stage of the customer journey. Use trigger emails to automate your engagement while maintaining your customer’s interest! Faster follow-ups will give you a better chance of qualifying leads and ongoing scheduled communications will help you to easily nurture and convert these leads. You can also learn how to create integrated cross-channel marketing campaigns, using marketing automation to enable you to establish consistent brand presences on a variety of platforms, including social, email and text.

As the adoption of marketing automation increases (there are nearly 11 times more B2B organizations using marketing automation now than in 2011), the faster you can harness its powers, the most effective you’ll perform.

5. Analytics

Analytics always has been the most important and simultaneously overlooked digital marketing practice. The ability to interpret results and translate them into action is indispensable – it means that you can not only assess your effectiveness, you can improve it as well. A data-driven approach will enable you to make the most of your digital marketing budget, whatever its size, as you’ll be more targeted and specific. You’ll be able to better segment your customers, and know more about their buying behaviors, challenges, and motivations.

70% of the customer journey is completed online before a buyer even reaches out to a sales rep. This shift in power from the rep to the customer means that sales and marketing professionals are being forced to rethink their strategies. And the only truly effective way to revise any digital marketing strategy is to derive new plans from valuable insights. You should be competent in utilizing analytics tools beyond just Google Analytics.

SOURCE: https://brandspurng.com/top-5-digital-marketing-skills-that-can-help-your-brand-for-the-new-year/

Nigeria’s leading one-stop financial services provider, Stanbic IBTC, a member of Standard Bank Group, has said it plans to deepen financial and entrepreneurial knowledge among Nigeria’s younger generations through a Youth Leadership Series.

Chief Executive of Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC, Mr. Yinka Sanni, in a statement stated that the organization has finalized plans to host the inaugural edition of its youth empowerment motivational series – the Youth Leadership Series dubbed – Against The Odds on Thursday 25 January 2018. 

According to the Stanbic IBTC boss, the organization is constantly exploring innovative ways of expanding the scope of its coverage and focus on the youth segment, otherwise known as the millennials, given the importance of the demography to national development, entrepreneurship drive and economic growth and development of the nation.

“The Youth Leadership Series is tailored after the annual Stanbic IBTC Business Leadership Series, an annual event that facilitates the sharing of knowledge and information among local and international participants who are drawn from key sectors of the economy. The overarching objective is to stimulate deeper engagements and outcomes for the sectors as well as unlock investment opportunities in the country,” Sanni said.

He said the Group decided it had become imperative for it to retool and re-strategize its efforts geared towards building the next generation of Nigerian leaders – the youths, in line with its commitment to growing that very important segment of the society.


“The popular saying that children are the leaders of tomorrow, as cliché as it may sound, for us at Stanbic IBTC, we believe that the youths are the leaders of today and because we understand just how easily one can get distracted or discouraged by the different challenges we face in our lives; our youths, therefore, need to be aptly and constantly guided, mentored, inspired and motivated, not just to attain their goals but in order for them to actualize their full potential,” Sanni added.

Stanbic IBTC, Sanni said, will in line with its brand promise of enabling people and businesses make real progress – “Moving Forward” demonstrate using real-life examples, experiences, and moving stories of three distinctively different but very remarkable young Nigerians showcase why notwithstanding whatever curve life throws at us, giving up should never be an option.

The inaugural Stanbic IBTC Youth Leadership Series – Against The Odd – will feature three remarkable Nigerians as lead speakers, Kechi Okwuchi, a survivor of the ill-fated Sosoliso plane crash of December 2005, who later went on to bag a First Class Degree from the University of Thomas Houston, Texas and emerged a finalist at America’s Got Talent; Member Feese, survivor of the United Nations Building bomb blast in Abuja and Cobhams Asuquo, renowned music producer who was born blind.

“Through the travails, experiences, and achievements of these exceptional young individuals, in spite of the hard-knock life and the odds, we hope to inspire, motivate and provoke the can-do spirit of our youth community and imbibe in them the strength of character, and tenacity to never give up but to constantly aspire to attain their full potential in life,” Sanni said.

Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC, a full-service financial services group with a clear focus on three main business pillars – Corporate and Investment Banking, Personal and Business Banking and Wealth Management. Standard Bank Group, to which Stanbic IBTC Holdings belongs, is the largest African bank by assets and market capitalization. It is rooted in Africa with strategic representation in 20 countries on the African continent. Standard Bank has been in operation for over 154 years and is focused on building first-class, on-the-ground financial services institutions in chosen countries in Africa; and connecting  selected emerging markets to Africa by applying sector expertise, particularly in natural resources, power and infrastructure.

SOURCE: https://brandspurng.com/stanbic-ibtc-target-youths-with-inaugural-youth-leadership-series/

The National Directorate for Employment (NDE) in Kebbi has so far trained 2,150 unemployed youths in various vocational skills to encourage them to be self-reliant and entrepreneurs.

The NDE Coordinator in the state, Alhaji Mohammad Zogirma, told newsmen in Birnin Kebbi that the quoted figure was for the period of January to December 2017.

He explained that those who specialized in cosmetology had completed their training, while others were still undergoing training in computer application, furniture making, vulcanizing, shoes and bags making, fashion design and barbing.

He advised the beneficiaries to be focused and disciplined as productive members of their respective communities who acquired training different fields.

Zogirma added that some youth organizations in the state facilitated the training beside the state government and national assembly members and traditional rulers.

The coordinator said the purpose of the training was to fulfill NDE’s mandate of combating mass unemployment and creating jobs for the teeming unemployed youths in the state.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the beneficiaries were drawn from the 21 local government areas of the state. (NAN)

 

SOURCE: https://brandspurng.com/nde-trains-2150-unemployed-youths-in-kebbi/

SABMiller, the largest breweries in the world which were acquired by Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) a Brazilian-Belgian Group headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, currently leads 19 other firms in fresh investments worth over $10 billion expected to be completed in Ogun state this year, BusinessDay has learned.

Businessday reports that the fresh 20 companies which cut across key sectors of the economy, including agriculture, mining, and quarrying, production of fast moving consumer goods, banking and services, are expected to individually invest between $100 million and $2 billion in the State in the long run.

The fresh investments will be a follow-up to already established 140 companies whom, Governor Ibikunle Amosun said during the presentation of 2018 Budget before the State House of Assembly, had individually invested between a minimum of $200 million and in excess of $2 billion in some instances.

Speaking exclusively with BusinessDay in Abeokuta on Monday, Bimbo Ashiru, State Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, declared that government had created a One-Stop-Shop that addresses investments related bottlenecks which hitherto were impeding quick access to industrial lands and land title documents as well as other documentation.

While explaining that State government had streamlined all efforts towards the provision of critical infrastructure as well as effective security mechanisms that protect investments, lives, and property within and outside designated industrial estates.

The Commissioner also stated that apart from huge investments in manufacturing and banking services, the number of all the State-based small and medium-scale enterprises had increased from 4,000 in the year 2011 to 25,000 in the year 2017, adding that the enabling environment provided by government as well as other economic incentives that fasten growth and development of the State economy.

He said, “We streamline all these things through our One-Stop-Shop. I am happy to tell you that over 140 companies have opened shops in Ogun state in the last seven years, and over 20 companies are waiting to be commissioned this year.

“SABMiller Intafact, they are the largest brewery in the world, they have been able to see that Ogun state is the home for them. We are central enough, we are Getaway to West African markets and we are Gateway to other Nigerian states in the country and if you are focused, you will get more investments.

“When we came in, we did enumeration and we found out that enterprises that were in Ogun state were 4,000 and when we later conducted the enumeration, the number had increased to 25,000 because through the business premises permits, we could see how industries are registering, how small businesses are registering. So, we have been able to do that and now, we are now generating between N6 and N7 billion and the target is N10 billion or more.”

SOURCE: https://brandspurng.com/sabmiller-19-other-factories-to-complete-10bn-investments-in-ogun/

lol

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (“Exchange” or “NSE”) announced today the promotion of Ms. Tinuade Awe to Executive Director, Regulation with effect from 1 January 2018. Her appointment has received regulatory approval.

As Executive Director, Regulation in the NSE’s revised organizational structure, Ms. Awe has oversight functions for the following teams: Broker-Dealer Regulation, Listings Regulation, Market Surveillance & Investigations, and Regulatory Technology. The Rules and Interpretation and Disciplinary Units of The Exchange will also report directly to her.

Prior to her promotion, Ms. Awe was the General Manager, heading the Legal and Regulation Division of The Exchange, in which role she also served as General Counsel of The Exchange. She served as Secretary to the Council of The Exchange from January 2011 to October 2015. Ms. Awe became affiliated with The Exchange in a consulting capacity in August 2010 and joined the employment of The Exchange in August 2012. She has been a member of the Executive Committee of the Exchange since August 2012.

Mr. Abimbola Ogunbanjo, President, National Council of the NSE said, “I am very proud that the National Council has recognized Tinuade for the exemplary role she has played in transforming the Legal and Regulatory landscape of the Exchange and would like to warmly congratulate her on her elevation as Executive Director, Regulation. Tinuade’s passion, energy and commitment to driving and executing on the Exchange’s transformation agenda has no doubt been instrumental in revolutionizing the Exchange and I am confident that she will continue to exert her influence and leadership attributes in her new role for the betterment of the market and its stakeholders.”

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

Mr. Oscar N. Onyema, OON, NSE CEO said: “As we restructure and reposition the Exchange for the fourth industrial revolution, Ms. Awe’s well-deserved promotion is indicative of the great career advancement opportunities that exist at the Nigerian Stock Exchange. I congratulate her and look forward to working with her in this new function to build a globally competitive Self-Regulatory Organization.”

Ms. Awe commenting said “I am both deeply appreciative and humbled by this recognition for my modest contributions to The Exchange. I look forward to continuing to provide quality service to The Exchange and its ecosystem by engendering an improved compliance culture based on substantial engagement as well as deployment of appropriate enforcement mechanisms; fully embracing and further deploying technology to serve our regulatory purposes; furthering our regulatory remit through key relationships with other regulators; and providing proactive and in-depth surveillance of our market.”. 

SOURCE: https://brandspurng.com/nse-promotes-ms-tinuade-awe-as-executive-director-regulation%e2%80%8b/

National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN) says Nigeria has emerged fourth largest producer of cashew in the world.

The association said Nigeria produced 220,000 metric tonnes of cashew nuts out of World’s total of 2.1 million tonnes last year, adding that the country exported 120,000 metric tonnes in the year under review.

NCAN President, Tola Fasheru who stated this in Abuja, Thursday when he visited the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Ms. Aisha Abubakar also revealed that cashew farmers in the country earned N123 billion ($402 million) from the export of cashew last year and between 2015 and 2017, earned $813.05m (N284.5bn) in foreign exchange from the exportation of cashew.

Fasheru called on the Federal Government to save the industry from collapse through initiatives such as the provision of incentives to farmers to expand their trade and protection of farms against encroachment from foreigners.

He also made other requests to the Federal Government to include the provision of N20 billion loans to the farmers to expand their trade, urgent need to address the persistent gridlock in Apapa, Lagos which affects exports and the provision of 2.6 million jute bags for bagging cashew nuts this year.

The NCAN boss noted that export earnings from cashew nuts have witnessed a steady increase in the last two years, rising from $ 152, 000,000 in 2015, to $259,000,000 in 2016 and $402, 050,000 in 2017.

He revealed that NCAN’s major trading partners are the Vietnam Cashew Association (Vinacas), African Cashew Alliance (ACA), USAID/NEXTT, while it also collaborates with the Cashew Export Promotion Council of India (CEPCI).

Fasheru commended efforts by the Federal Government towards making cashew a major revenue earner, adding that Nigerian cashew nuts are highly sought-after in the international markets.

In her remarks, Ms. Abubakar expressed Federal Government’s commitment towards supporting the cashew farmers.

She commended NCAN for its contributions to growing the cashew industry value chain and growth of the economy through job creation and foreign exchange earnings.

The minister promised that ministry would partner with other agencies in tackling the challenges facing the cashew farmers and exporters.


SOURCE: https://brandspurng.com/nigeria-emerges-worlds-4th-largest-cashew-producer-earned-n284b-3-years/

Dangote Cement leads gains as rally continues on the back of rising oil prices
The world-beating rally in Nigerian stocks may not be over yet.

The main equity index in Africa’s biggest economy has surged 12 percent this year in dollar terms, the most among 96 major bourses tracked by Bloomberg, pushing it to the highest level since 2008. Dangote Cement Plc, controlled by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, and the largest company on the bourse, has climbed to a record high.

The advance will probably be sustained thanks to rising prices for oil, Nigeria’s main export, and as investors look to increase their holdings of what remain among the cheapest stocks in Africa, according to the asset management arm of South African lender FirstRand Ltd.

“For investors wanting more exposure to consumers in Africa and Nigeria, in particular, the outlook is good,” said Paul Clark, a money manager in Johannesburg at Ashburton Investments, which owns Nigerian stocks including Seplat Petroleum Development Co. “The banking sector is probably the most attractive at the moment, especially the tier-2 lenders.”

Nigerian stocks are leading the world so far this year. Foreign investors have been crucial in driving the market higher. The New York-based Global X MSCI Nigeria ETF attracted record weekly net inflows through Thursday. That helped to increase the exchange-traded fund’s market capitalization to almost $90 million, double the level in May last year.

Even after the gains, Nigerian valuations are the cheapest among the major African equity indexes. Nigerian stocks trade at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 10.2, while South Africa’s are at 14 and the MSCI Emerging Market Index is at 13.

That suggests there’s further upside, according to Cape Town-based fund Allan Gray. While foreign investors turned negative on Nigeria after following the 2014 oil crash and subsequent recession, the economy picked up last year and growth is forecast by the International Monetary Fund to accelerate to 2.1 percent in 2019.

“For long-term investors, Nigerian equities were a screaming bargain,” said Nick Ndiritu, co-manager of Allan Gray’s $389 million Africa equity fund, which doesn’t include South Africa. “Investor sentiment has turned more bullish on Nigeria and a re-rating of the Nigerian stock market is now underway.”

Still, there are some warning signs. The 120-day correlation between Nigerian stocks and Brent crude is now around the highest in two years. If oil prices reverse their 45 percent climb since June, Nigerian assets could take a hit.

That’s one reason HSBC Holdings Plc has a negative outlook on the stocks. The U.K. bank also says Nigeria will have to free its currency further if it wants to attract more investment. While the central bank eased some capital controls last year and opened a trading window for foreign portfolio traders, it continues to operate several exchange rates.

“Nigeria’s multiple exchange rate systems is likely to remain a key drag, keeping long-term investors on the sidelines,” HSBC analysts David Faulkner, John Lomax and Kishore Muktinutalapati said in a note on Jan. 11.



SOURCE: https://brandspurng.com/with-12-rise-in-fourteen-days-nigerian-stocks-are-worlds-best/

True

Good

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader” – John Quincy Adams

“In a gentle way, you can shake the world” – Mahatma Ghandi

You become a leader once you are a rallying point over a particular cause

Many people have thought that they can never be a leader because they do not have a title neither do they have a position that could be a platform for them to exercise their leadership potentials. This line of thought may not be true after all of the various quotes above have shown that what it takes to lead is much more than having a title or a position. There are many title holders and people in positions who are actually taking a walk because they do not have people following them. In other words, they are not leading. Those who are following them are doing so because of their positions and the authority that comes from such positions. However, there are many who are leading and have become leaders in their own rights but do not have any title or position. This article highlights the possibilities of being a leader without having a title or position.

Source of Inspiration

As John Quincy Adams quote has depicted that if your actions are a source of inspiration to others, you are a leader. Everyone who wants to be a leader must be conscious of his actions and words as he must be aware that these are meant to inspire others. Individuals who want to lead are aware of the impact of their words and actions on a lot of people so they are very cautious about it. They know that their actions are serving the needs of a lot of people including theirs so they consciously make it an action or words that will inspire others.

Mastery of Knowledge in a Particular Area

When you have mastery of knowledge in an area, you become the reference point in that area and you become the rallying point. People look up to you for knowledge in this area. This area of interest could be leadership, engineering, social sciences, sales and marketing, human resource management, finance and many other areas of concern to different individuals. You become an authority, however, mastery of knowledge must have a proof of the results you turn out. You must avoid speaking a lot of grammar without proofs to show. A title is not needed to achieve this. You do not need to be a professor or a doctor of philosophy before you can claim mastery of an area. I say this cautiously but I have seen a lot of Indians who have demonstrated mastery of technical matters such as engineering, construction, and sciences including sales and marketing but such individuals may not have a master’s degree

Solving Problems

You do not need a title or a position to solve a problem. When you solve the problem of your friends, colleagues, family members and associates, you are providing leadership. When you solve people’s problems, you become a rallying point for them anytime they are faced with challenges and issues that are beyond them for the solution. To lead without a position or title, you must ensure that everyone that comes your way leaves with his heavy burden lightened and let everyone have a reason to smile when he is leaving your side. Solving problems could also be in form of counsel. Always leave people better than you met them and avoid making people bitter when they approach you for proffering solutions to their challenges.

Advancing a Particular Cause

A leader is a rallying force for a particular cause. Titles and positions are not required to advance a cause. Meanwhile, advancing a cause is defending something you believe in. Mentioning, writing and repeating a particular issue and enumerating the merits of that case will surely draw the attention of people who believe in that cause towards you. You become a centrifugal force to which they are attracted in its direction. A typical case of advancing a cause is the worldwide resonated “Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG)” case in Nigeria led by its co-founder Oby Ezekwesili. The matter gained the attention of world leaders including the then President of United States of America and his wife, Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as well as the then Prime Minister of United Kingdom, David Cameron. These are highly revered leaders on a world stage but there was someone whose cause attracted their attention and that automatically confers leadership on the individual.

Making Outstanding Impact

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets as Michelangelo painted or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great sweeper who did his job well’”. Every individual should strive to do his job well resulting in undeniable impacts. You must make a mark. You must endeavor to break records. You must ensure that your results stand out amongst your peers. There is a level of achievement and exploits that even the opposition will have no contrary view but to acknowledge the impact made. When an individual gets to this level, he has become a leader. Amongst other reasons, his works become a reference point for others. He will soon be approached by many on how he was able to achieve those marks.

With the above, it is evident that you can be acknowledged as a leader even when you do not have a title or a position. It is left for us to take the opportunities as highlighted in this piece thereby changing our world.

 

SOURCE: https://brandspurng.com/is-a-title-or-a-position-needed-to-be-a-leader/

The pan-African financial institution, United Bank for Africa (UBA), has today, changed the face of e-banking with the introduction of Leo, the UBA Chat Banker who enables customers to make use of their social media accounts to carry out key banking transactions.

At the official launch of Leo, UBA’s Chat Banker, which took place in Lagos on Thursday, customers of the bank were given a step by step demonstration on the novel way of delivering lifestyle and quality banking through the Facebook Messenger chat platform.

This is the first time that a financial institution in Africa has come up with this manner of the solution to simplify the way customers transact. Something that has become necessary in today’s fast-paced world with demands for quick-time transactions and response.

With the launch of the Chat Banking, customers will be able to open new accounts, receive instant transaction notifications, check their balances on the go, transfer funds and airtime top up. They will also be able to confirm cheques, pay bills to apply for loans, freeze accounts, request for mini statements, amongst other things.

At the occasion, the Group Managing Director, UBA, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka, said that the launch of Leo is part of initiatives aimed at putting the bank’s customers first with UBA continuously developing strategies aimed at easing transactions for the bank’s numerous users while ensuring the utmost safety of their transactions.

Mr. Uzoka said, “The formulation of this product, is consistent with the bank’s customer 1st philosophy, where we are doing things not the way we like, but focusing on what the customers want, where they want it, and in the exact platform they want it.’

“At UBA, we have been working with technology giants that have the global capacity to ensure not only seamless but also effortless banking for millions of our customers across Africa. We at UBA, have collaborated with Facebook to come up with this innovation that is capable of revolutionizing the way banking is done in Africa,” he said. Uzoka noted that Leo will in the nearest future, show up on other social platforms and added that all it takes to enjoy the services is simply to have a Facebook account.

CEO, UBA Francophone Africa, UBA Plc, Mr. Emeke Iweriebor; Group Head, Online Banking, UBA Plc, Mr. Austin Abolusoro; GMD/CEO, UBA Plc, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka; and Executive Director and Group Chief Operations Officer, UBA Plc, Mr. Chukwuma Nweke, during the launch and introduction of Leo, a Chat Banking Personality on Social Media Platforms by UBA in Lagos

As he unveiled the character of Leo, Uzoka stated:  “Leo being an intelligent personality will give you feedback instantaneously as you transact your business on the platform. A solution that is from the customer’s standpoint and is easy to use by anyone’

Also speaking at the launch of Leo, the Group Head of Online Banking at UBA, Mr. Austine Abolusoro, who conducted a step by step demonstration on the working of Leo, reiterated that Leo  is  not just a chat machine, but an artificial intelligence personality meant to address any type of banking concerns raised by customers.

“Leo is ready and waiting to help with most transactions and to deliver any form of banking services. Leo is operating a lifestyle banking platform on facebook messenger to assist with your transactions while chatting with your friends and business partners. The security with this platform is that for every transaction, an OTP (One Time Password) is generated to the phone number that is registered on your account.”

He explained that with Leo your banking needs become easy and simple.  As simple as chatting.

UBA was incorporated in Nigeria as a limited liability company after taking over the assets of the British and French Bank Limited who had been operating in Nigeria since 1949. The United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc merged with Standard Trust Bank in 2005 and from a single country operation founded in 1949 in Nigeria – Africa’s largest economy – UBA has become one of the leading providers of banking and other financial services on the African continent. The Bank provides services to over 14 million customers globally, through one of the most diverse service channels in sub-Saharan Africa, with over 1,000 branches and customer touch points and robust online and mobile banking platforms.

UBA was the first Nigerian bank to make an Initial Public Offering, following its listing on the NSE in1970. It was also the first Nigerian bank to issue Global Depository Receipts. The shares of UBA are publicly traded on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the Bank has a well-diversified shareholder base, which includes foreign and local institutional investors, as well as individual shareholders.

SOURCE: https://brandspurng.com/uba-revolutionises-ebanking-introduces-leo-chat-banking-personality-on-social-media-platforms-photos/

Its a wake up call that needs a very loud alarm now

we balling when its agriculture, but no enough support and too many bottlenecks.

Sterlinggggggg

This year’s Social Media Week Lagos will return to Landmark Event Centre on the 26th of February to the 2nd of March, 2018 after six years of successful editions.

The 2017 edition alone attracted over 15,000 attendees across the week and had a global online reach of 454 million.

The annual conference now considered Africa’s largest digital media & tech event.

The global theme for SMW 2018, “Closer,” will explore the intensifying conflict between community and individualism. The conversation will bring together a diversity of perspectives to discuss the most productive ways to harness these forces to drive innovation, improve consumer experiences and bring people together.

SMW Lagos 2018 programming will in part focus on how technology drives individualism, while also looking at how platforms and apps bring people “closer” and foster community. As Africa moves rapidly towards digitization across sectors, we must ensure people remain a part of the equation. Inclusion is of the utmost importance our prosperity as a continent depends on it.

The week-long programming focuses on ideas, trends, insights, business practices, and policy that leverage technology to transform industries and communities across Africa. In 2017, over 100 local and international organizations contributed to the event.

Year after year SMW Lagos brings together brands, thought leaders and influencers to curate one of a kind experience for attendees.

SOURCE: https://brandspurng.com/social-media-week-lagos-to-kick-off-on-february-26th/

Beautiful