Nigeria's soft drink market shrinking due to health consciousness?!....Is This True?!

Most Individuals consume soft drinks on a daily basis. Now,these soft deinks contain sweeteners such as Xylitol, Aspartame and Stevia, which we in one form or the other consume since the first of them, saccharin also known as "the poor man's sugar" was formulated by German chemists over a century ago.

Now its no news that most Nigerians are aware of the dangers caused by the comsumption of these sweeteners; and this makes them stop the purchase of these commodities,spread the word to their loved ones and subsequently the news goes around.

I believe Health Consciousness is the best thing that could happen to NIGERIANS, because the Market Place is filled with varieties of same products.If the Nigerian soft drink market are losing its customers based on this, then they were truly hired to wipe us away from the face of the earth.

You produce and release into the market, products that could risk Diabeties, Cancer, Stroke, Vomiting, Weight gain, Heart disease to a human being!!!!!.

Now, we are fully aware of these dangers; these companies rise to introduce "low-sugar drinks" which are more or less the same"

Nigerians Awake!! Be Health Conscious even the Market Place, its not all about the cash you are about to spend!

First Bank holds SME conference, pioneers online marketing platform for business.

First Bank plc is pioneering an online social commerce portal for businesses to register free and sell goods and services to the public.

This was announced at the bank’s SME Connect National Conference that held Tuesday in Lagos. The site 3AL.com is being run in partnership with various organisations such as 3AL, while DHL will effect the delivery of the products to the buyers.

The head, virtual channels business, e-business group of First Bank, Mr Kolawole Ogunmekan, said during an interview at the end of the SME Conference that the buyers will have the knowledge of the businesses offering the goods and services on the online platform, and for many of the items, the buyers would not be expected to make payment until the good was delivered to them. “We are giving the businesses direct visibility to the customers. 3AL.com is a platform where businesses come and showcase their business, DHL does the delivery and First Bank guarantees all the payments,” Ogunmekan stated.

He explained on the mode of payment,that, “The customers pay with their electronic payment cards. First Bank is strong in the electronic banking space. The money will come to First Bank and the seller will tell us into which account the money should be credited. Today, money can be transferred from one bank to another, but it would have been better to have an account with First Bank because it would be faster. Businesses that are not First Bank customers would incur charges to get the money transferred to their accounts.

“If SMEs do not want to incur any cost on the transfer they need to have an account with First Bank because there would be charges on the transfer. Depending on the value of the item, the customer may not need to make payment upfront.”

Bisi Onasanya, group managing director, First Bank of Nigeria Limited in his welcome address, said the conference was “dedicated to spotlighting a critical aspect of the national economy that holds the key to sustainable economic development and long-term survival as a nation.

“The all-inclusive theme for this conference, namely, ‘SMEs at the heart of National Development: Creativity, Capacity and Capital’ aligns with First Bank’s thrust for excellence in thought leadership.”

Keynote speakers at this conference, which brought together a very impressive number of entrepreneurs in various fields, were Ibukun Awosika, group CEO of the Chair Centre Group, Sim Shagaya, founder of Konga.com and DealDey,com, Kofo Akinkugbe, chief executive, SecureID Limited, Audu Maikori, chief executive, Chocolate City Group, Ndidi Nwuneli, co-founder AACE Foods, etc. 

These leading entrepreneurs shared their success stories, and inspired the participants and  fellow entrepreneurs to be creative, make innovation the watchword in their businesses and to stay true to their dreams.

A group of top First Bank executives with Peter Bamkole, director, Enterprise Development Centre then x-rayed the issues of access to capital for SMEs, pointing out the critical things investors look at before investing in any business and how the entrepreneurs needed to source finances at the different stages of their businesses.

As part of its SME engagement programme through the First Bank SME Connect, the bank would be holding regional conferences, including sector specific capacity building initiatives going forward.

The price of foreign rice may crash as FG plans tariff cut.

The price of foreign rice may fall ahead of this yuletide as the federal government wants to review downward the 110 percent  import duty and levy it slammed on the commodity January this year to boost local production.

Currently, the market price for full bag of rice goes for N9, 500 and N4, 800 half bag depending on the brand.

Chairman, Presidential Committee on Trade Malpractices, Alhaji Dahiru Ado-Kurawa, who gave the hint while fielding questions from journalists in Lagos said the decision by government to review the tariff downward was because the policy has escalated smuggling of the commodity and loss of revenue to the government to the tune of N2 billion in the past eleven months.
      “Benin Republic is one of the highest importers of parboiled rice this year. This is the country that ordinarily imports about 230,000 tons per annum. The two million tons parboiled rice imported from Benin was all smuggled to Nigeria,’’ said Ado-Kurawa.

According to him, the stakeholders met recently in Abuja and part of the resolution was to advice the federal government to review the rice policy and sift out the grey areas where improvements could be made with a view to ensuring that the government’s quest to halt rice import was achieved.

According to him, the review is not a policy somersault but  an approach to create a healthy mechanism for Nigeria to be self sufficient in rice production and earn income from imported rice.
       The chairman disclosed that the government would also give  incentive to  to rice millers into backward integration.

According to him, government’s policy on rice has greatly deepened local production, which was geared towards attaining self-sufficiency in the product.
He noted that local milling capacity has increased to 200 percent and there has been an increment in production of about four million tons of local rice, thereby driving the production of paddy rice to an all-time high.

President, Millers, Importers and Distributors Association of Nigeria, Mr. Tunji Owoeye, commended the federal government for looking into the challenges facing the rice sub-sector.
He listed the challenges as smuggling of foreign rice brands through the Benin Republic border as well as incentives to rice farmers and processors.

SADC honours outstanding entreprenuers.

Success Attitude Development Centre(SADC),organisers of Success Digest Enterprise Awards(SDEA),will hold its 17th annual award for  outstanding entreprenuers at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island on Saturday.

    Sunny Obazu Ojeagbase, chairman of SADC and publisher of Success Digest Magazine, organiser of the award, said it was his own way of contributing to the development of entrepreneurship in the country. He explained that the award which has now run for 16 years has been based on merit.

    

    The awards, he said, is yearly sponsored by some corporate organisations which include First Bank Plc, MTN, Cadbury, among others.

  

   Jimoh Ibrahim, group managing director, Energy Group, will deliver the key-note address at the event where nine outstanding entrepreneurs will be honoured.

Ibrahim will address entrepreneurs in their scores on why he buys failing business and turn them around.

Naira eases against dollar despite CBN's intervention

Naira weakened against the us dollar yesterday, losing N0.24K at the foreign exchange market as it closed at N158.96/$ as against N158.72/$ the previous day, data from Financial Markets Dealear Quotation(FMDQ) have revealed.

This is in spite of the intervention of The Central Bank Of Nigeria(CBN) at the Retail Dutch Action System(RDAS) window.

      Analysts beleive that naira depreciation was due to the increased demand for the greenbatenor,30 days tenor and 60 days teck by the end users.

      The CBN yesterday offered $300million but sold a total of  $299.9million to 21 deposits money banks at N155.72$ at its bi-weekly RDAs.

      Interest rates at the inter bank markets yestereday rose by 2.29% from 11.57% the previous day to 11.84% yesterday.

      

 Consequently,call tenor increased to 10.83% from 10.58% the previous day.Similarly,7 days tenor,30 days tenor and 60 days tenor climbed from 10.95%,11.68%,and 11.95% the previous day to 11.12%,11.58% and 11.87% respectively.

Top Gainers/Losers As At Wednesday 27 November 2013

GAINERS

COMPANY            OPENING          CLOSING        CHANGE

CADBURY                 57.00                    59.58                   2.85

NB                               165.02                 167.50                  2.48

GLAXOSMITH          64.80                   66.00                   1.20

DANDECEM              194.00                 195.00                 1.00

OKOMUOIL               43.94                   44.50                   0.56

LOSERS

COMPANY             OPENING            CLOSING        CHANGE

WAPCO                      105.26                    100.00                   -5.26

OANDO                      15.00                        14.00                   -1.00

NESTLE                     1,250.00                  1,249.50                -0.50

TRANSCORP            4.80                           4.34                     -0.46

CAP                             50.45                         50.00                   -0.45

The Nigerian Equities Market changed its course yesterday driven majorly by gains recorded by largely capitalised stocks.  At the close of trade yesterday,the stock market recorded marginal gain of 0.09% and also halted the two days of 'bear' reign.

Market Statistics as at Wednesday 27 November 2013

ASI(Points)                              39,011.31

DEALS(Numbers)                  4,761

VOLUME(Numbers)              361,783,665

VALUE(N billion)                    4.764

MARKET CAP(N trillion)      12.477

The NSE All Share Index(ASI) rose to 39,011.31 points from the preceding day's 38,975.16 points;  while market capitalisation of equities listed on the main board from N12.466trillion to N12.477trillion,adding N11billion. In 4,761 deals, investors exchanged 361,783,665 shares valued at N4.764billion.

Analysts at UBA capital commented on the outing yeswterday,saying,they remain bargain hunters, "especially as price correction in our preference counters presents an opportunity to build new positions ahead of 2014 rally".

"Even as we note renewed interest of local pension funds in equity(partly in preparation for the fund categorisation which may require more asset allocation to equities),we reiterate that the market is faily valued for the year,with negligible fundamental upside at 12.8x P/E"

   

Experts commend CBN over plan to change naira to paper notes

        

      Financial experts on Wednesday commended the CBN on its plan to change naira notes from polymer to paper notes in second quarter of 2014,saying that, the plan was a good decision, but long over-due.

NAN reports that the polymer notes were first introduced in 2007 with N20 denomination and later in 2009 with the N5, N10, and N50 denominations.

     Mr Muda Yusuf , the Director-General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), said that the decision was well intended.
He said that it was an error on the part of CBN to have produced polymer notes.
Yusuf urged the CBN to be cost conscious in the production of naira notes, saying the polymer notes lacked quality as they faded easily.
He also advised the CBN to ensure that the new naira notes would have longer life span for them to stand the test of time, 
“I think there is quality issue with the polymer notes because they fade so fast".
“If you examine some of the polymer notes, you will be struggling to read what is written on them".
“So, I think it is a better decision because the quality of the polymer is so poor and it was an error for CBN to have opted for the use of polymer notes,” he said.

       Mr Harrison Owoh, the Managing Director, HJ Trust and Investments in Lagos, said: “I wonder why it took the CBN a period of six years before it detected the flaws in the polymer notes”.
Owoh said that the move by the CBN to phase out the polymer notes might be politically inclined, adding that the CBN had been “foot dragging” on the issue for long.
NAN reports that Mr Tunde Lemo, Deputy Governor, (Operations) at CBN, on Nov. 21, said that Nigerians would be handling a new generation of naira notes by second quarter of 2014.
He said that the bank had earlier announced to the public that it would change naira from polymer to paper and that all the notes would not be withdrawn at the same time.
“Nigerians will be having new generation notes in paper in the next few months.
“We will wait until the notes wear and tear. When they wear, and they travel back to Central Bank, of course they will be re-issued,” he said.

According to him, the life cycle of a note in Nigeria is between six months and a year and the CBN took that decision six months ago,

“I reckon that in the next three to six months you will begin to see these denominations re-appear in paper.” (NAN).

ECOWAS decries Africa's 3% share of global trade

   

The ECOWAS Commission has decried the “global trade imbalance against Africa” as the continent’s share of the global trade stood at a paltry 3 per cent. The Commissioner for Trade, Customs, Industry, Mines and Free Movement, Ahmed Hamid, made the remarks at the opening of a workshop on “Trade and Environment” in Abuja.

He explained that, “The global trade increased from 13 trillion dollars in 2000 to an estimated 30 trillion dollars in 2010. Africa’s share in world trade has been declining since 1980 and currently stands at about three per cent. As such, African countries have not benefitted from the steady increase in the volume of international trade.  Hamid also said the crucial role of trade flows and investments in growth and development was well recognised. According to him, there is a strong and justifiable drive by African countries to expand their share of global trade. 

      Representing Hamid was  Dr. Gbenga Obideyi, Acting Director, Trade,ECOWAS Commission,who explained that African countries were positively taking steps to address challenges that hampered intra-African trade with the objective of expanding trade flows. 

Also speaking on the need to address the challenges in the relationship between trade and other economic, social and environmental sectors, he urged African countries to embrace environmentally sound production and distribution of commodities which could expand their domestic and international market access.

     Ms Isatou Gaye,The Chief, Green Economy and Natural Resources Section, Special Initiatives Division, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, said trade played a vital role in economic diversification of Africa.

According to her, trade is important in accessing and diffusing technologies and practices that can be deployed for enhancing the integrity and productivity of ecosystems. “This is important to West African countries in which the well-being of the majority of the people and the prospects for sustained economic growth are intricately and inextricably linked to environmental sustainability.”

  Representative of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Mr John Maughan, said that Africa currently had its share of global warming more than ever before. Maughan also urged African countries to be conscious of climate change by embracing environment-friendly industrialisation and engage only in trade that was “environmentally relevant”.

Representing the World Trade Organisation (WTO) at the workshop, Mr Devin McDaniels said WTO rules provided sufficient policy space for members to implement environmental protection measures.

   The three-day workshop would enhance the knowledge and strengthen capacity of the ECOWAS Commission and its member states to generate, share information negotiate and formulate coherent trade and environment policies.

Banks halts lending to fund Business Operations In Nothern States

It is as a result of the Insecurity in the Northern States, that Manufacturers are having streams of loses over built up finished inventories of goods in their warehouses they can not sell. 
It's no news that the North is important to their business as the region accounts for more than 30% of the Nigerian Market Place.
Though the manufacturers see the market as huge, distribution of goods and services to this region is being hampered by security challenges in the affected states .

This setback has led to enormous reduction in turnover, reduction in sales force; unavoidable layoff of production staff by companies operating from other parts of the country due to high unsold inventory. From Multinationals to SME's, the story is the same.
 Speaking on the issue, PZ Cusssons Plc., Chairman, Professor Emmanuel Edozien, said its sales dropped by 1 per cent from N72.2 billion to N71.3 billion. In a review of the company’s performance for the financial year ended 2013, he attributed the drop in the company’s revenue to: “The social unrest in the Northern part of the country and the impact on the consumers’ spending power subsequent to the reduction of the fuel subsidy which exerted considerable pressure on the top line throughout the year.” According to him, profitability however, increased with profit before tax growing by 78 per cent from N4.3 billion to N7.7 billion off the back of reduced raw material prices and manufacturing and supply chain efficiencies.

“The marketing of our products in the north is being hampered,” said Martin Woolnough, the immediate past Managing Director of Nestle Nigeria Plc. Describing the state of insecurity in some parts of northern Nigeria as “A stress on the economy”, he said:  ”We can’t get our sales team up there. That’s likely to impact the middle to long term brand equity in the future. Nestle Nigeria’s first-quarter net income fell by 3.4 per cent to N5.99 billion  ($38 million) from a year earlier. Revenue climbed 7 per cent to N30.7 billion.

Commenting on the impact of the state of insecurity in the North on his company, Keith Richards, Managing Director of Promasidor Nigeria Limited, said: “You know with the borders closed, a lot of formal and informal exports are not happening. People are not coming from Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Mali. So you see a downturn in demand. The North is important to us. A lot of our brands are doing very well here.

Procter & Gamble Nigeria Limited (P&G) which has an expansive distribution network in the north is affected by the shutting down of stores, stemming from the crisis. But Manoj Kumar, P&G chief for West Africa, says the company is up to the task. “We have been here for 20 years. All sorts of crisis have come and gone. We are therefore not worried like other companies which have spent a few years operating in the country,” he said.
The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) in its Business Environment Report, said that many firms in the country have lost 30 per cent of their sales because of insecurity in the north, which denied them access to the region. The report, which was prepared in the second quarter of the year, also said manufacturing firms sourcing raw materials from the North are now facing serious challenges, while projects funded by banks in the affected states are at risk. According to the report, the hospitality industry in the affected states have been paralyzed just as many investors, especially SME's are relocating to other states.
“Many bank branches have been closed, while the working hours for others have been drastically reduced. Many projects under construction in the north have been abandoned while security budgets have been scaled up by many firms,” said LCCI. The survey also disclosed that expectations from the North which represent 30 per cent of total Nigerian market have shrunk considerably due to goods produced by these manufacturers are no longer sold out to the supposed buyers because of the flinch market volume.

LCCI furthermore noted that the scope of coverage for manufacturers in the northern part of the country is limited as investors could not set up factories in the north out of fear of being terrorized, bombed or shut down due to lack of or low sales .
     On the effects of insecurity in the banking sector, the survey stated that increased lending to northern business was impossible as the possibility of paying back the loans were not visible .Consequently, banks saw it as a great risk to lend to an investor intending to invest in the north.

MANUFACTURERS in the country are licking their wounds over streams of loses as a result of built up finished inventories of goods in their warehouses they can not sell. This is as a result of the insecurity in the Northern part of the country - See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/11/insecurity-banks-halt-lending-fund-business-operations-northern-states/#sthash.P2XpOyXK.dpuf

MANUFACTURERS in the country are licking their wounds over streams of loses as a result of built up finished inventories of goods in their warehouses they can not sell. This is as a result of the insecurity in the Northern part of the country - See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/11/insecurity-banks-halt-lending-fund-business-operations-northern-states/#sthash.P2XpOyXK.dpuf

MANUFACTURERS in the country are licking their wounds over streams of loses as a result of built up finished inventories of goods in their warehouses they can not sell. This is as a result of the insecurity in the Northern part of the country - See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/11/insecurity-banks-halt-lending-fund-business-operations-northern-states/#sthash.P2XpOyXK.dpuf

MANUFACTURERS in the country are licking their wounds over streams of loses as a result of built up finished inventories of goods in their warehouses they can not sell. This is as a result of the insecurity in the Northern part of the country - See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/11/insecurity-banks-halt-lending-fund-business-operations-northern-states/#sthash.P2XpOyXK.dpuf

MANUFACTURERS in the country are licking their wounds over streams of loses as a result of built up finished inventories of goods in their warehouses they can not sell. This is as a result of the insecurity in the Northern part of the country - See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/11/insecurity-banks-halt-lending-fund-business-operations-northern-states/#sthash.P2XpOyXK.dpuf

CBN to roll out N5000 note in March 2014

 

 

 

The Central Bank has disclosed at the weekend that the initial  abandoned project due to the rejection by Nigerians is now a soon concluded plan.                                                                                                                              The Deputy Governor of CBN, Tunde Lemo, disclosed at the NIBSS 20th anniversary conference held at Lagos that in a month or two from now that the N5000 notes would be in circulation.

 According to him;" We only stopped the project due to the low level of understanding of its benefits among Nigerians, but we now plan to educate the people about the importance of the notes to our economy before we eventually launch it”.
     Speaking on the cashless initiative, Lemo noted that it has been a great success within the experimented states, stressing that the apex bank has deployed 120,000 Point of Sale (PoS) Machines across the states where cashless policy is being experimented in Nigeria. Frowning at the reports that 70 percent of the PoS deployed within the country are ineffective, he explained that a lot of things could cause the ineffectiveness”.
 The Director, Banking and Payment Systems, CBN, Mr. Dipo Fatokun, who was also a speaker at the conference, noted that the apex bank’s cashless initiative has aided the development of Nigeria,also stressing that  banks and customers now enjoy the easy flow of transactions within the banks.  He, however, noted that the Nigeria payments system, in the last two decades, has witnessed significant technological advancement, due to the operations of Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement (NIBSS) Plc.
      These changes were driven in by transformations in the general financial system occasioned principally by improvements in global economic indicators, technology as well as improvement in human capital capacity and knowledge.
      Meanwhile funds transfer though the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS)’s Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) system hit an all  time high of N11.63 trillion in 24.34million transactions between January and October this year.
Transactions over NIBSS Instant Payment (NIP) which channels include bank branches, internet banking and mobile banking within the same period was valued at N8.16trillon in 12.53million volume of transactions. Also reports released by NIBSS discloses that the NIBSS's Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) transactions allow for a maximum of 24 hours for the beneficiary to get value, while, NIBSS's Instant Payment (NIP) transactions are done instantly. 

The Market Place: Sweetner For The Nigerian Economy !@?

The Market Place: Sweetner For The Nigerian Economy !@?:   The Group Managing Director, Dangote Refinery, Mr Graham Clark has commended the Federal government on the new sugar master plan saying it...

Sweetner For The Nigerian Economy !@?

  The Group Managing Director, Dangote Refinery, Mr Graham Clark has commended the Federal government on the new sugar master plan saying it has the capacity to put Nigeria on the global sugar map.

While on a courtesy visit to the Minister of Trade And Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, and the Executive Secretary of the National Sugar Development council (NSDC), Dr Lateef Busari, He explained that he has a mandate to establish a world class sugar business in the Dangote Group and develop a fully integrated world class sugar supply chain that will put Nigeria on the world sugar map.

The Minister, Mr. Olusegun Aganga explained that the Sugar Master Plan is a very important initiative for the Government, due to the economic growth it will bring to Nigeria as well as the extended value chain the sector will create.According him, implementation of the master plan will create numerous employment opportunities. The Minister added that the Dangote Group was dedicated and focused in its approach to the success of the backward integration project and ensures it employ the best hands to run the affairs of companies.

The Federal Government is in conjunction with "Major Players" in the Nigerian Sugar industry, but I wonder why The Dangote Group is all that is being mentioned. The Market Place really hopes that these "best hands" are hands of this great nation.