The Nation Newspaper

Category: Industry

  • Aganga: cocoa export fetched $900m in 2012

    Aganga: cocoa export fetched $900m in 2012

    ABOUT $900 million was generated from the export of cocoa and cocoa products last year, the Minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, has said.

    Aganga, who spoke in Abuja through the Ministry’s Acting Permanent Secretary, Olakunle Sogboola, during the National Sensitisation Workshop on Sanitary PhytoSanitary Stardards Capacity Building in Africa, said cocoa, which is the second largest foreign exchange earner after crude oil, has generated over two million jobs.

    He said: “The global market for cocoa is very huge, growing at an average of three per cent per annum. Nigeria’s cocoa export has equally grown over the years by an average of 40 per cent annually and a cumulative of 280 per cent from $215 million in 2006 to $822.8 million from the export of cocoa and cocoa products last year.

    “ Nigeria is the world’s fourth largest producer and exporter of cocoa. Paradoxically, over 90 per cent of the cocoa produced is exported. Our domestic consumption of this strategic commodity is barely three per cent. Given this scenario, not only is increased local consumption encouraged, the pursuance of value addition in our export drive has also become the ultimate goal of substantially reducing the export of raw cocoa and ensuring stable and improved income for our farmers.”

    Aganga said the primary goal of the country is to secure a sustainable market for cocoa and cocoa products, as well as encourage effort to protect food safety and threats of pesticides and contaminants to human health, adding that the capacity building is in line with government’s commitment to the continued growth and development of this vital industry through improved quality standards.

    “ It is expected that at the end of the implementation of this project in Nigeria, we would have trained adequate personnel capable of conducting in-depth analysis of cocoa and other food products, in addition to well-equipped and functional laboratories, which will conform to any SPS regulation anywhere in the world,” he said.

    The Permanent Secretary, Mr Dauda Kigbu, said the essence of the workshop was to create awareness about Sanitary PhytoSanitary Standards Capacity building to mitigate the harmful effects of pesticides in cocoa in order to maintain market access.

    “ Nigeria as a responsible member of the international community is not only concerned about the negative health implications of toxins found in agriculture crops and food products like cocoa beans and cocoa products, but has taken measures to address this important issue which has now assumed international prominence. Kigbu said.

    Executive Director, International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) , Dr. Jean Marc Anga, said the cocoa and chocolate industry was faced with many challenges, as users of cocoa products are continuously coming up with more demands on issues, such as quality of the beans, traceability and integrity of the beans along the supply, food safety and social ethics.

    He said ICCO will continue to support Nigeria to implement major component of the project that will create awareness among cocoa farmers along the cocoa supply chain, enhance the capacity of stakeholders to apply Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Good Warehousing Practices (CAP) as well as strengthening regional collaboration to enhance institutional capacity in each SPS standards in cocoa.

  • ‘$620m spent on sugar importation’

    Nigeria spent $620million on the importation of raw sugar last year, the Executive Secretary, National Sugar Development Council, Dr. Latif Busari, has said.

    Busari, who stated this at a forum in Abuja, regretted that those who imported the raw material did not pay levies on more than 99 per cent of the imports.

    Noting that the country spent an average of $500 million on sugar importation yearly, he said the bill might go up going by the demand for the commodity.

    He said: “Right now, we spend on the average, $500 million importing raw sugar. Last year, we spent about $620million importing raw sugar, and going forward, we believe it may go up a little bit.

    “The demand for sugar, according to our projection, is going up a little bit; but then, as it is going up.We are putting in place measures to start local production. We believe that once we have all these investors in place and they start producing, the import bill should start gradually reducing.”

    Busari expressed the hope that the country could save and use the money spent on sugar importation for economic development as soon as it started local production of the commodity on the level that could achieve self-sufficiency.

    He said levies were not paid on over 99 per cent of the sugar imported into the country because of waivers granted to importers by government.

  • BoI, Ogun embark on N100m projects for women

    The Bank of Industry (BoI) and the Ogun State government, have set aside N100 million to build an agricultural packaging and processing plant to address local capacity utilisation.

    The project, tagged ‘Tomato production and processing,’ is expected to empower over 1,000 women in Ogun State.

    Managing Director of BoI, Ms. Evelyn Oputu, told wife of Ogun State governor, Mrs Olufunsho Amosun, who visited the bank’s corporate office in Lagos, that the move is in line with the bank’s empowerment programme to address the “bottom pyramid of the society,” especially those relating to the feminine gender.

    Ms. Oputu, while affirming the bank’s commitment to support Mrs Amosun in her ambition to build an agricultural packaging and processing plant, said women empowerment is vital to economic development. She said the bank introduced the policy to ensure that 85 per cent of its fund is geared towards developing SMEs, adding that the SMEs’ desk was introduced to facilitate their access to loan in key areas where such loans are most needed.

    Ms. Oputu, who noted that women have the tendency to get to higher levels when given the opportunity, stressed the need to make women empowerment prominent in the rural areas where majority of them still live in poverty.

    Mrs. Amosun, who is the project convener and the founder of Uplift Development Foundation, said her mission was to uplift and empower women of the state, especially the widows and other cadres in the state.

    She said her mission is in line with the vision of the state government to uplift agriculture and create jobs for the unemployed, especially the women and the youths.

  • Fed Govt, private sector plan 18 cassava processing firms

    The Federal Government is to collaborate with the private sector to establish 18 cassava processing firms with machines that can process 240 tonnes of cassava per day.

    President, Nigeria Cassava Growers Association (NCGA), Olusegun Adewunmi, told The Nation that this was in line with the Agricultural Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration. The processing industries, he said, would create a market for cassava.

    The objective of the agenda was to generate employment and transform the country into a leading player in the global food market to grow wealth for millions of farmers and make the agricultural sector a business project to promote private investment.

    The partnership, he said, would also execute integrated projects through value chain processes, generate employment and transform Nigeria into a net exporter of agricultural commodities.

    He said cassava growers would have to work hard to meet the requirement of the processing industries, especially as the country has started exporting cassava grits and chips to China. He commended the Federal Government for designing the agricultural transformation agenda.

    The agenda, Adewunmi said, has made farmers to partner with banks, and not a master-servant relationship, like it used to be in the past.

    “For the first time, a farmer can sit down and make a programme of his own and it is acceptable to the bank and to the government. In the past, it was the ministry that will make the programme, but we are glad it is no longer so. The agenda is working; it is giving us freedom,” he said.

    Adewunmi, who observed that the membership of the association has increased to more than one million farmers, said the membership would be more than 10 million in the next six months, adding the issue of cassava glut was also being addressed by the Federal Government’s agricultural programme.

  • Non-oil sector can sustain economy, says Army chief

    The Federal Government has been advised not to depend solely on oil export earnings, but to pay more attention to the non-oil sector to sustain the economy.

    Speaking during the breakfast briefing of the Institute of Directors of Nigeria (IOD) in Lagos, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, represented by the Chief of Accounting and Budget, Maj.- Gen. Abdullahi Muraina, blamed the lingering economic stagnation, rising poverty level and the decline of public institutions on poor economic management

    Speaking on the theme: The role of the Armed Forces in economic development, Ihejirika said the fluctuations in public expenditure has reflected both the over-reliance on oil earnings and weak fiscal discipline by previous governments, adding that unstable fiscal spending also tends to cause real exchange rate volatility.

    He said the fiscal expansions financed by oil revenues often result in domestic currency appreciation, creating what he described as Dutch-disease concerns and reducing competitiveness of the non-oil economy

    The Army chief saidlack of infrastructural development has hindered public investments, adding that this has slowed down private sector activities over the years.

    He blamed the poor condition of the power sector on the country’s infrastructural shortfall.

    Meanwhile, per capita power consumption in Nigeria has been estimated at 82 kilowatts (kw) compared with an average of 456kw in other sub-saharan African countries, and 3,793kw in South Africa.

    Ihejirika said Nigeria’s economic performance prior to economic reforms was generally poor, adding that between 1992 and 2002, the yearly GDP growth averaged about 2.25 per cent with an estimated population growth of 2.80 per cent per year.

    This implied a reduction in per capita GDP over the years, which he noted, has worsened the living conditions of most Nigerians. He said the inflation levels are high, averaging about 28.94 per cent per annum over the same period.

    He said human development indicators in Nigeria compare favourably with those of other least developed countries, but regretted that widespread corruption has destablised the effectiveness of various public expenditure programmes, he, however, expressed confidence over the attainment of macroeconomic stability which, he said, had provided a platform for improved growth performance in the recent time

    He observed that the growth rates have averaged about 7.1 per cent yearly for 2003 to 2006. This, he said, was a notable improvement on the performance over the decade before the reforms when yearly growth rate averaged about 2.3 per cent.

    The President of the institute, Thomas Awagu, who reiterated his commitment to advancing the economic development of the nation, said the institute would continue to establish contact among business leaders at the highest levels and partner withthe government for the creation and entrenchment of favourable business friendly policies in the country.

  • Coca-Cola, IFC sign $100m MoU to empower women

    Coca-Cola Nigeria in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has signed a $100million Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to finance women micro-distributors in the company’s value chain.

    The agreement, signed in Atlanta, United States, provides for a three-year joint initiative to provide access to finance for women entrepreneurs in developing markets across Eurasia and Africa.

    Nigeria has been allocated $22 million (about N3.5 billion) from this grant. In Nigeria, Coca-Cola and IFC are working with Access Bank to provide financing to women micro-distributors in collaboration with Coca-Cola’s bottling partner, the Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC).

    The collaboration builds on the synergies between Coca-Cola’s five-by-20 Women’s Economic Empowerment Initiative and IFC’s Banking on Women Programme to help address barriers women entrepreneurs commonly face in some of the world’s poorest countries.

    IFC will work through its network of local and regional banking institutions to provide financing and business skills training to small and medium sised businesses that are owned or operated by women entrepreneurs across the Coca-Cola value chain.

    Speaking on the empowerment initiative in Nigeria, Public Affairs and Communication Manager, Coca-Cola Nigeria, Clem Ugorji, said: “Work related to this initiative is already beginning in Nigeria. Coca-Cola and IFC are working with Access Bank to provide up to $22 million financing to women micro-distributors (MDCs) in the Coca-Cola value chain, in close collaboration with Coca-Cola’s bottling partner, Nigerian Bottling Company.”

    President of Eurasia and Africa Group, the Coca-Cola Company, Nathan Kalumbu, said: “Women entrepreneurs make significant contributions to emerging and developing economies; yet have lower access to finance than their male counterparts. By providing greater access to capital, we are investing in our own success and the success of the communities we serve. We are excited about this opportunity to harness the collective power of our organisations to positively impact women in Eurasia and Africa.”

  • Artisan, others win prizes in Lipton promo

    A Kano-based plumber, Mr John Folajomi and Miss Ikemefuna Isioma, a worker of General Motors, in Lagos, who emerged winners of a brand new car prize each, in the just-concluded ‘Lipton switch on and win promo,’ have been presented with their prizes

    Five other customers, including an eight-year-old pupil of Ajelogo Nursery and Primary School, Ketu, Lagos, Ebonyegharun Osadumebi Zion, went home with N100,000 each, at the presentation held at Unilever’s head office in Lagos.

    Other winners were Razak Adeyemi,Amih Njideka, Kehinde Agbomeji, and Florence Ojebseme, with George Friday, winning a return ticket to Dubai as 100 other consumers were also rewarded through the exercise.

    Speaking at the presentation of prizes, the Vice President, Operations, Unilever Plc, Mr Anil Gopalon, said the promo was initiated late last year to reward consumers for their support for the brand.

    He said: “One of the major reasons for the promo was to spur Nigerian consumers to develop interest in taking healthy drinks, instead of carbonated products that could be injurious to human system. Our major reason for conceptualising the promotion was, first to reward consumers, encourage them to drink tea and to add value to the lives of our teeming consumers.”

    The vice president, who said the reward exercise always takes place at every first quarter of the year, also posit that consumers should expect more of such exercises in the future.

  • Flour Mills to set up food, UI centre

    Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc is to establish a food research centre—Flour Mills Food Research Centre—at the University of Ibadan(UI).

    The centre, the first of its kind in any university, is a partnership between Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc and UI, the nation’s premier university.

    In the partnership during the first phase, Flour Mills will provide an initial payment of N30 million, for the procurement of equipment and running of the centre during the first three years; the university will provide a building housing two laboratories for pilot plant studies and research in food product development.

    At the flag-off of the project in UI, Flour Mills Group Managing Director, Chief Emmanuel Ukpabi, said the firm recently reviewed, redefined and articulated its Corporate Social Responsibility policy.

    Following the review, the firm now has a strong focus on environmental sustainability, education, research and skills development, health and welfare, infrastructural development and security. This, he said, was in furtherance of Flour Mills’strong belief that business should be run in a profitable, but sustainable and socially responsible manner, creating great value for all stakeholders and giving back to the society.

    The objectives of the Flour Mills Food Research Centre, according to Ukpabi, include contributing meaningfully to attaining national food security through research and development; strengthening the weak industry-academia linkages in Nigeria and promoting greater collaboration between the food industry and institutions that offer training in food science and technology in the country.

    The centre to be equipped with state-of-the-art facilities will be available to researchers and students from all over Nigeria and other parts of the world.

    Flour Mills’ Agro Allied Business Managing Director,Mr Paul Gbededo, said the firm aligned itself with the Federal Government’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda, adding that the setting up of the centre was most appropriate.

    He added that Flour Mills was pursuing an aggressive investment in agro-allied initiatives, growing palm for its edible oils and fats business, rice for its rice mills, cassava for its high quality cassava flour processing, starch and glucose business; and sugar cane for its mill and sugar refinery.

    Gbededo expressed hope that the centre would be the hub of research activities in the university on value-added food processing and reduction in post-harvest food losses to promote food sufficiency in Nigeria and reduce food importation.

  • Commission seeks return of SON at ports

    The Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has asked the Federal Government to allow the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) return to the ports.

    ICPC Chairman Mr Ekpo Nta said son will ckeck the importation of sub-standard products if it returns to the port. He spoke when SON Director-General Dr Joseph Odumodu visited him.

    Nta urged SON to set manufacturing standards for foreign companies planning to produce in the country, saying this would make it an offence for any firm to compromise on quality.

    He said it had become imperative for stakeholders to work together to fight corruption.

    Nta lamented the negative impact of sub-standard products on the domestic market where unbridled importation of pharmaceutical and other health-related items have continued to cause premature deaths, diseases and losses.

    He said the commission’s motive for going to the ports was in furtherance of its new drive to fight corruption through preventive approach.

    A study of the ports, quarantine posts, immigration and other entry points into the domestic market, he said, would help to determine how substandard products are coming in and find ways of stopping the illegal practice.

    Nta said: “What we cannot export to other countries, we keep in our shops.

    “The concern you are raising today has actually come to us. Incidentally, I was in Calabar recently to attend the graduation ceremony of 69 Corruption Risk Assessors that have been trained for the first time in this part of the world. I think we are the first country in the world to come up with such programme in collaboration with the UNDP. Other countries have requested to have the template.

    “They have been given certification by the UNDP and they have been trained in looking at risk in all areas. And the very first assignment they are going to carry out is a system study of selected Nigerian ports,” Nta said.

    He explained that SON is one of those agencies the Commission would work with to see that any abuses in the import regime is identified and tackled.

    “You can’t take any fruit into Israel or other countries, yet everything can come into my country. This ugly trend cannot be allowed to continue,” he added.

  • ‘SMEs need more training than finance’

    How can business success be measured? It is by the amount of finance available and level of training, says the Chairman of the Lagos State National Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI), Mr Segun Kuti-George.

    He said for any Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to grow and survive, its sponsors and workers need knowledge, training and skills acquired from good trainers.

    Kuti-George spoke at the end of a seminar/monthly meeting of the group, in Lagos.

    He said the modalities of obtaining loans under the FirstBank and NASSI agreement was impressed on the NASSI members by officials of FirstBank, who conducted the seminar.

    Kuti-George said the seminar aimed at shedding light on the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between NASSSI and FirstBank. He said the training was imperative for SME operators who want to access the fund.

    He said: ‘’The loan is not an end in itself, but meant for people and people need to have a clearer understanding of the loan before they can respond, which is what they have been clamouring for and not a question of accessing the fund but understanding the requirement of it.’’

    He added: ‘’There is no amount as no pool of fund is kept somewhere, but there is three windows for fund; first is FirstBank window of loans not more than N5million for SMEs; second is NASSI window, where money we ask people to pay for form, will form a pool of fund and it also serve as a security for loan given out and third is government window that is vital as the Federal Government and various state’s government will be asked to counter-pact with First Bank on NASSI’s behalf’.

    It should be recalled that in mid-2012, First Bank entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), with NASSI, on providing single digit loan for SME’s across the country.