The Nation Newspaper

Category: Consumer Watch

  • Firm launches consumer loyalty reward portal

    Firm launches consumer loyalty reward portal

    In its quest to transform customer reward system in the country, a firm, PromoXchange has launched a portal where customers of different brands can be rewarded for their loyalty to the brands through a meter system.

    The mechanism involves using state of the art technology solution that effectively turns a mobile phone into an account that earns and accumulates points on transaction of goods and services thereby rewarding all customers unlike raffle draws that rewards only selected few.

    Justifying the need for the innovative product, the co-founder and managing director of the company, Philip Oke said: “PromoXchange solution is as easy as sending SMS. There are no entry barriers and it’s available on all GSM networks and also as mobile apps for smart devices. Considering that the mobile phone penetration in the Nigerian market now stands at about 80 per cent and growing.”

    Expatiating, he said: “In simple terms, it means that no matter where a product is sold, you would find a brand customer or a potential customer owning a mobile phone. Consequently, we see an opportunity to influence transaction and consumption behaviour through an innovative solution that connects mobile phone users who are also sales merchant, brand customers to their favourite products or brands at anytime and anywhere.”

    “PromoXchange provides several compelling tactics that ensures that channel partners, brand customers, including consumer behaviour are influenced which ultimately results in increased transaction and consumption of products, goods and services. In the long run, together as partners, PromoXchange work with brands towards stimulating product usage that drives your brand success in the market place,” he added.

    Echoing similar sentiments, Adeoye Abodunrin, the chief operating officer, Cubed Integrated Marketing Consulting, said the platform is a landmark.

    “There are many places where the customer is not known. How amount of attention companies pay to their customer is meager and the companies have no choice than to pay adequate attention to their customers,” adding that organisations should begin to think differently about their customers and PromoXchange helps to achieve that.

  • Verve launches revolutionary mobile app

    Verve launches revolutionary mobile app

    Verve International, the leading African payment card brand, has launched a revolutionary mobile app, ‘Verve World’, which enables cardholders to store all their payment options and to carry out everyday transactions without physically using their cards.

    This innovation was unveiled to stakeholders at an event on Wednesday, last week at the Four Points by Sheraton, Victoria Island, Lagos.

    Users are able to store payment instruments from all major card brands in Nigeria.  In addition to debit, credit and prepaid cards, and Verve eCash, bank accounts can also be added to the app.

    The app features ‘Paycode’, Verve’s latest innovation.  Users of the Verve World app can generate a ‘Verve Paycode’, a unique one-time code valid for 24 hours, which can be used to withdraw cash from an ATM machine without a card.  The Verve Paycode can be sent to a loved one or friend to withdraw a pre-set amount of money from most ATMs in the country.

    Verve Paycode is the latest in a string of initiatives and partnerships as Verve International continues to innovate and consolidate its leading position in payment transactions and services across Africa.  The service opens a new range of possibilities for users and also offers a new level of security as cardholders can still carry out regular transactions as usual without the need to move around with a physical wallet.

    Other services available on the Verve World app include: Verve eCash funding; quick recharge transactions; Verve Rewards balance check; and enabling or disabling cards from performing international transactions.

    Speaking at a stakeholder engagement event held in Victoria Island, Lagos, Chief Executive Officer of Verve International, Charles Ifedi, commented:

    “The Verve World app has been tailored specifically for the African market and is an example of how, here at Verve International, we continue to push the boundaries of technological innovation to address local payment challenges. We continue to see growing demand from our cardholders for easy, secure and convenient payment methods irrespective of the payment instrument being used. Therefore we designed the app to address the need for urgent access to cash without a card, through Verve Paycode, (a key feature in the APP) which can also be generated and sent to friends and family for cardlesswithdrawal at ATMs.”

    Cardless transactions can be initiated at an ATM without inserting a card.  This is done by pressing any button on ATMs enabled with ‘QuicktellerCardless’.  Fidelity Bank, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Heritage Bank, Zenith bank, FCMB and GTBank have all upgraded their ATMs with this functionality.

    ATMs belonging to UBA, Sterling Bank, Access Bank, Skye Bank, Unity Bank, Ecobank and WEMA Bank are being upgraded and would have the service available in a few weeks.  As such, there are currently over 5,000 ATMs across Nigeria where Verve Paycode can be used, and this would rise to over 11,000 ATMs by the end of 2015, when the upgrades for the above listed banks would have been completed.

     

     

  • Counterfeiting: Still a hard nut to crack

    Counterfeiting: Still a hard nut to crack

    Counterfeiting of products has been identified as the major issue confronting the National Agency for Food, Drug, Administration and Control (NAFDAC) even as the regulator appeals to the federal government to hasten in its approval of life jail terms and confiscation of offenders assets.

    “Stiffer penalty is what will help in curbing the ugly incidence as the existing lenient law and regulations does not serve as deterrent. We have sent a bill to the Federal Executive Council and we are still waiting for the approval,” said NAFDAC’s Director General, Dr. Paul Orhii.

    Speaking on the topic ‘Counterfeiting, Legislation and Enforcement’ at the opening ceremony of the first NAFDAC Summit at the Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos, last week, Dr. Orhii said that the battle line has been drawn between “NAFDAC, a competent and responsible regulatory agency determined to ensure access to safe, efficacious drugs, and wholesome and nutritious food, and a small but powerful minority bent on manufacturing and distributing adulterated and substandard regulated products to the public.”

    He said the agency will never compromise on its decision to bring to justice any manufacturer involved in the production of fake and counterfeit drugs and food at the detriment of the Nigerian people.

    Stating that counterfeiting was a global issue, not restricted to Nigeria alone, he happily added that the agency managed to get the Chinese and Indian governments to introduce death and life term jail sentences for offenders.

    Getting the Chinese and Indian governments involved in the war against counterfeiting was necessary as most of the counterfeit, unwholesome and substandard products are originating from those countries and finding their ways into Nigeria.

    Speaking, he said, while those countries have succeeded in imposing stiffer penalties for the offenders, Nigeria which is at the receiving end has the most lenient law which imposes 5-15years jail term or an option of N500,000 fine as punishment for those convicted of the crime.

    “We are advocating life jail term without an option of fine, confiscation of assets, and reward for individuals who expose those involved in the crime,” said Orhii.

    Giving reasons why manufacturers and importers of those fake products seem to target Nigeria, he said that only 30per cent of the drugs used in Nigeria are manufactured locally, creating a 70per cent vacuum which the importers and manufacturers take advantage of.

    He also mentioned Nigeria’s huge population, porous land borders as part of the reasons why counterfeiters target Nigeria.

    Unfortunately, he said that “overwhelming majority of people, especially in Africa may have been subjected in one way or the other to the traumatic experiences occasioned by the use of spurious medicines and unwholesome processed foods.”

    Quoting the World Customs Service, Dr. Orhii said that pharmaceutical crime has become a $200 billion business annually while noting that there has been a gradual shift from lifestyle medicines to life-saving drugs due to the higher prices that life-saving drugs generally command.

    However, commending the agency, Dr. Orhii said that NAFDAC has achieved some milestones in the fight against counterfeiting, unwholesome and substandard drug and food products, while appealing to the general public to join hands with the agency in the fight “as only the government agency cannot win the battle.”

    According to him, the agency has deployed new technologies towards improving surveillance at the ports of entry, and engaging the use of e-clearance to access the customs portal while also adhering to strict enforcement of the mobile authentication service in order to empower the patient at the point of purchase of antimalarial and antibiotics.

    Giving the agency’s achievements, the DG noted that “According to the World Health Organisation (2011), the quality of antimalarials in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria, was 20per cent, a drastic reduction from 64per cent reported in an earlier study conducted in 2008. A similar correlation was observed in a nationwide study conducted by NAFDAC on the incidence of counterfeit medicines in circulation which showed a prevalence rate of 19.6per cent in 2012.”

    He, however, said that a recent survey conducted by the agency in conjunction with USAID and other partners noted a remarkable drop in the level of counterfeits and malarial to 3.6per cent.

    Nevertheless, he said that a lot can still be done to achieve higher results in the fight. “We can improve coordination both globally and locally between regulators, manufacturers and distributors, identify threats to brand identity, monitor global trends in counterfeiting, declared the DG.

    “We can also increase consumer awareness about buying from unauthorised sources, support the enhancement of laws and regulations to discourage counterfeiting and partner with law enforcement agencies to investigate counterfeits,” said Orhii.

    Speaking on behalf of Adesoga Badejo (SAN), Barrister Laolu Owolabi, Deputy Managing Partner, Banjo Badejo & Co, stressed that counterfeit will never go away no matter the enforcement from government except the general public joins forces with government to fight it.

    Speaking further, he said that combating counterfeit drugs and food products requires the coordinated efforts of all the different affected stakeholders that are competent for addressing the various aspects of the problems.

    “Counterfeit medicine is widespread and has escalated to such an extent that effective coordination and cooperation at the international level are necessary for regional and national strategies to be more effective,” said Owolabi.

    Meanwhile, Mr. Okoli, Head, Department of Food Science, Yaba  College of Education, while making remarks, expressed concern that the stringent regulations of product registration may be part of the reason why counterfeiting of products is thriving.

    Mr. Okoli also expressed some worry about the food safety, quality and the standardisation of already produced food though calling on NAFDAC to increase their efforts in making sure that standards are sustained well after the manufacturer or importer must have been issued with NAFDAC registration numbers.

    Reacting to Mr. Okoli’s remarks, the DG of NAFDAC explained that the agency has ‘Small Business Support Desk’ to assist upcoming entrepreneurs, adding that one does not need to have a big outfit in order to meet NAFDAC’s specifications depending on what one is manufacturing.

     

    “You can have one room that meets NAFDAC’S requirements. We give discounts and sometimes give full discounts for registration and inspection if we see that the product is good but that the producer is incapacitated,” he explained.

     

  • Can beer cure cardiovascular diseases?

    Can beer cure cardiovascular diseases?

    Moderate consumption of beer can be a remedy for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

    This was the submission made by a cross-section of experts when stakeholders gathered to listen to professionals demystify the many wrong notions on beer and health benefits.

    The annual beer symposium tagged: ‘Beer and Life Style’ drew participants from far and near.

    While experts noted that heavy alcoholic consumption could negatively affect the health of a woman but beer spa could still be used to enhance skin beauty.

    Dr. Henk Hendriks, a biologist and a project leader in the Institute for Food and Nutrition in the Netherlands, explained that virtually all processes contributing to Cardiovascular diseases, CVD are beneficially effected. These effects, he said, substantiate the causal relation between moderate alcohol consumption and CVD.

    These effects, according to him, have been observed in all groups studied; young, old, men and women.

    According to Hendricks, some of the inherent advantages of beer include: low percentage of alcohol, large quantities of water considering its role in rehydration and as  a good source of minerals, polyphenolic antioxidants; contains anti-inflammatory xanthohumoles.

    Besides, he said, beer contains low concentrations of alcohol and a large number of additional ingredients that are associated with health.

    “Moderate beer/alcohol consumption is associated with a lower risk for metabolic diseases, viz. cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes,’’ he said.

    Prof. Emevwo Biakolo, Dean, School of Media and Communication, Pan Atlantic University, Lagos, Mr. Nicolaas Vervelde, Managing Director/CEO, Nigerian Breweries Plc, and Mr. Steve Ayorinde, Commissioner for Information & Strategy and representative of Lagos State governor, at the 2015 Nigerian Beer and Health Symposium in Lagos
    Prof. Emevwo Biakolo, Dean, School of Media and Communication, Pan Atlantic University, Lagos, Mr. Nicolaas Vervelde, Managing Director/CEO, Nigerian Breweries Plc, and Mr. Steve Ayorinde, Commissioner for Information & Strategy and representative of Lagos State governor, at the 2015 Nigerian Beer and Health Symposium in Lagos

    Expatiating, Hendriks, who has coordinated research programmes on health effects of moderate alcohol consumption focusing on coronary health diseases, diabetes and well-being stressed that “the beneficial effects of moderate beer/alcohol consumption are mediated by improvements in lipid (cholesterol) metabolism, blood clotting and glucose metabolism.”

    Professor Emevwo Biakolo of the Pan Atlantic University Lagos, who is the Chairman of the conference, also submitted that moderate beer intake in the elderly appears to be associated with significantly longer survival in men aged 60–74 years and in all elderly women.

    “There is evidence that moderate alcohol consumption may be associated with better cognitive function in old age,” he said.

    Also speaking at the occasion, Mr. Tony Agenmomen, Senior Strategy Manager, Nigerian Breweries explained that moderate beer drinking can offer some health benefits, adding that the evidence is overwhelming.” Even good things can become a stumbling block to us, if used without moderation,” he said.

    To drink moderately, he explained, “is to drink within the limits set by your health, the society in which you live and your obligations towards your family and friends,” stressing the need to find that balance and define your moderation.

    In his welcome address, the Managing Director of Nigerian Breweries, Mr. Nicholaas Vervelde explained that the company having been encouraged by the outstanding success of the 2014 symposium and the very enthusiastic response from the general public, it again decided to sponsor the 2015 edition.

    He restated the company’s resolve to telling the rich and positive story of beer is tied with our strong commitment to the promotion of responsible consumption.

    “I call on all consumers to enjoy beer responsibly. As the Heineken Chairman and CEO said recently, ‘it is important to make the point that misuse of alcohol is not cool,” he said, adding: “In line with our commitment to responsible consumption of our brands, we have continued to execute some activities including partnering with several agencies and stakeholders to embed the message of responsible consumption. A key example is our partnership with the FRSC in “Don’t drink and drive” campaign. These campaigns will continue into the future until every consumer understands and abides, Vervelde said.

    However while speaking on the topic ‘Beer, Women and Healthy Living’ Mrs. Dolapo Coker, a Nutritionist Consultant and Former President, Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology, while extolling the many health benefits of moderate intake of beer warned that alcohol has been linked to an increased risk of developing breast cancer though adding that “research is still ongoing.”

    Mrs. Coker, who retired as Director, Food and Drugs Services, Federal Ministry of Health, however, cautioned pregnant and breast feeding mothers to desist from alcohol as it can be passed to infants and in the case of a pregnant woman can “result in Foetal Alcohol Syndrone [FAS] which can result in miscarriage, malformed, very small or a child with learning difficulties and behavioral problems.

    Emphasising moderate drink for women she averred that the recommended intake is “one 12oz bottle per day for women while men can take two 12oz bottles a day.”

    The nutrition consultant with several years of work experience in the Health sector also cautioned aging women on alcohol consumption. “As women age their tolerance for alcohol decreases and alcohol abuse causes the symptoms of menopause to increase in severity”.

    Echoing similar sentiments, Professor Tola Atinmo, a professor of Human Nutrition at the University of Ibadan, and Ebuka Obi-Uchendu , a lawyer and media personality emphasised the need for restrain on the part of youth as far as beer consumption.

    The panel of discussants included Toun Okewale-Sonaiya who was the moderator, Mr. Kunle Baker, Encomium Publisher, Mr. Tunde Babalola, script writer/producer, Ms. Abimbola Ajileye, Secretary, International Federation of Women Lawyers, Ondo State amongst many others.

  • Online insurance platform berths in Nigeria

    It is a known fact that many Nigerians don’t insure their properties and this is understandable, considering the number of scams and the amount of time spent in trying to rip the dividend from insurance companies.

    However, the implication of not insuring ones property is usually not considered if disaster or accidents occur.

    Also the integrity of insurance companies is doubted, making it harder from for people to ensure. In an effort to ease Nigerians of their fear and doubt, an innovative internet insurance platform for Nigerian internet users was launched recently in Lagos.

    The online car insurance website, Topcheck, was founded by two German tech entrepreneurs, Christian Wiesner and Thomas Pilar, who said they came to Nigeria for the enormous opportunities in the country.

    The platform according to them will enable insurance seeks to compare prices and buy insurance policies directly from insurance companies on their mobile phone or their computer. “Traditionally, insurance in Nigeria has been very weak but there are lots of efforts in the industry to strengthen insurance as a product and make it much more effective for the customer,” Pilar, adding that they have noticed change in the economy which is the reason they moved to Nigeria.

    The site is available to a public of millions of internet users and at the same time making it much easier and convenient them to use. “We offer a platform that set the standards of buying insurance by providing the fastest, most secure and most comfortable way to do so. We connect insurance companies directly with insurance seekers on our website topcheck.com.ng,” said Wiesner.

    According to them, consumers can buy car insurance policy within 10 minutes without going anywhere or without needing to visit an office, thereby increasing convenience to insure in the comfort of their homes or office on their platform

    “Recent numbers show that the enormous amount of 97.2 million Nigerians is already connected to the internet. We try to make the insurance space more customer friendly by offering innovative solutions that traditional insurance companies do not offer,” said Wiesner.

    They informed that they are partnering with trusted security companies. In their words: “We apply all security measures we can and our customers can be 100 per cent sure that their data and systems are 100 per cent secured as well as partnering with various top companies such as Mountain Partners, Trivago, Jumia and Comparis.ch amongst others, including investors in order to give customers value for their money.”

    However, they said TopCheck “is not an insurance broker, but an independent website offering a free and easy to understand comparison of insurance and other services. TopCheck only lists the products of the best providers in the market,” assuring customers that they acts in their best interest and only lists the products of the best providers in the market. “Our mission is to bring transparency to a market that has been very in-transparent for the customer traditionally.

    “We love Nigeria” said, Wiesner, “here in Nigeria, we experience a level of dynamism and an optimistic business mentality that we miss in Germany. For this reason Thomas and I moved here recently.”

     

  • How Konga’s Yakata discounts boost sales

    How Konga’s Yakata discounts boost sales

    Konga.com, Nigeria’s largest online mall offered customers the most unprecedented discounts ever given by any sales outlet in Nigeria, during this years’ Konga.comYakata sale promo which lasted from Thursday to Friday.

    The Yakata sales is Konga.com’s version of famous ‘Black Friday’ sales that holds in several countries in the western world.

    Gabriel Gab-Umoden, Vice President Marketing, Konga.com, speaking on the discount sales said that to excite the customers this year, konga collected an unbeatable line up of top selling items that were sold for mind blowing discounts for the period of the Yakata sales.

    “We know that Konga’s customers are looking to us to provide the lowest prices and greatest deals for this edition, and we put all necessary measures in place to ensure that our customers are not disappointed. We would have discounts on almost every item on the site. In addition to these amazing discounts, shoppers got an additional 5 per cent discount when they paid using KongaPay.Yakata is a way of saying ‘Thank you’ to our customers for their patronage over the year.”

    It will be recalled that the first Yakata sales held in 2013 and recorded N50 million worth of orders every hour at peak periods, with the company selling 500% more items during the two days massive discount sales than it did in all of 2012.

    Also in 2014, offering up to 70 per cent savings on select items across categories, Konga’sYakata sales recorded over N600 million worth of items in two days.

    “Black” has traditionally been applied to days with major stock market crashes, such as when an attempt to manipulate the gold market led to a Black Friday in September 1869.

    The term was first used in the shopping context more than 50 years ago by Philadelphia police officers to describe the chaotic day after Thanksgiving when the city was overrun with the traffic of consumers flocking to the Christmas sales and sports fans travelling to the annual Army vs Navy American football game.

     

    Black Friday already gaining traction in Nigeria

    The culture which is completely alien to Nigeria, until a few years ago, is already gaining momentum.

    Thanks to the online sales portal, Jumia, Konga, and few many more, many Nigerians, especially upwardly mobile individuals experienced their own version of Black Friday few years ago when these ecommerce platforms announced different bonanza sales for customers.

    Mrs. Ronke Azeez, a housewife in Ikotun axis of Lagos, while sharing her perspective about Black Friday confided in Ripples that most of the stores she patronised were brandishing up to 50 per cent discount on products, with some offering as high as 90 per cent discount.

    Upbeat, she said: “Last year, I missed out, which is why I decided to start purchase well in advance.”

    Ecommerce sites have refused to be left out of the frenzy and are all making plans to outdo one another.

  • Guinness Nigeria clears air on N1b NAFDAC fine

    Guinness Nigeria clears air on N1b NAFDAC fine

    Guinness Nigeria Plc, the nation’s leading alcoholic beverage manufacturer and a subsidiary of Diageo Plc, has opened up on the controversial N1billion fine imposed by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), saying the company was doing everything to ensure the issues are resolved amicably.

    Giving this insight on Monday was the Chairman of the brewery giant, Chief Babatunde Savage. He spoke at a pre-Annual General Meeting in Lagos.

    It would be recalled that NAFDAC had few weeks ago accused Guinness of allegedly revalidating expired products without authorisation supervision as well as exposing its raw materials to rodents and thus imposed a N1billion fine to be paid within two weeks.

    Savage, who was accompanied by the company’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Peter Ndegwa and Director of Corporate Relations and Company Secretary, Sesan Sobowale, said while the circumstances that led to the imposition of the fine was regrettable, it was not a deliberate effort on the part of the company to flout extant rules and guidelines for quality control.

    “As a global company we set store for the ideals of quality, which has earned us accolades from around the globe and even locally from our regulators, including NAFDAC. The material was not even found inside our factory. It was from one our hired warehouses. The raw materials had not even gone through our brewery process. This is just a one-off thing that would be resolved amicably,” he stressed.

    The company, Savage recalled has enjoyed a very cordial relationship with the regulator overtime and was desirous of maintaining that in the future ahead.

    “As a law abiding corporate citizen we’re convinced this matter will be resolved and further strengthen our bond with the regulator,” he emphasised.

    Echoing similar sentiments, Ndegwa, who resumed as the CEO last September, assured that as a global company, it will continue to do everything humanly possible to adhere to highest quality standards.

     

     

  • NBC restates commitment to investment, facility upgrade

    NBC restates commitment to investment, facility upgrade

    Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) Limited has stated its commitment to focused investments and upgrade of its manufacturing facilities in Nigeria. In a recent company statement during an engagement session with its major stakeholders, the Acting Head, Public Affairs and Communication, NBC Limited, Mrs. Sade Morgan, said that the Company is upgrading its manufacturing operations, and the Ilorin facility is being transformed to become a world class material handling and logistics hub.

    “The restreaming of NBC’s operations in Ilorin is part of an on-going Accelerated Investment Plan, aimed at doubling production capacity by 2020, to better satisfy our customers and markets. Whilst manufacturing activities have ceased within the facility, the Company will continue to carry out logistics and commercial operations from that location, making it a major and expanded full-fledged depot and material handling facility,” Morgan stated.

    She said that the demand for Coca-Cola products is high and growing, and in a bid to meet up with the sales projection trajectory in a competitive environment, more production lines are being installed in some of our existing manufacturing facilities, most of which will be new. The new Ilorin depot facility, when completed, is expected to support new and upgraded production lines in the region to deliver our products more efficiently and effectively to yearning customers and dealers within the South-West Region and beyond, in an environmentally sustainable way.

    NBC Limited is partnering with communities on its shared values of water stewardship, youth development and women empowerment. Collaborating with state governments, supporting female entrepreneurs with trade asset financing and business training for women entrepreneurs in the Coca-Cola value chain remains a top priority and a strategic part of the company annual business plan.

  • Insight sustains dominance at LAIF 2015

    Insight sustains dominance at LAIF 2015

    Insight Communications Limited demonstrated its dominance of the advertising industry in Nigeria with a strong showing at the 2015 Lagos Advertising and Ideas Festival (LAIF) Awards held recently at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.

    It emerged the most awarded company for the year, going home with 25 awards, comprising five gold, ten silver and ten bronze awards respectively.

    An elated Feyi Olubodun, Chief Operating Officer at Insight Communications Limited, was quick to dedicate the awards to the clients who continue to entrust the company with briefs over the years.

    “The successful execution of these briefs,” he said, has given birth to the strings of awards received by his company.

    Olubodun disclosed that “the LAIF Awards is something we look forward to every year. It affords us the opportunity to have the industry undertake an independent assessment of what we have done for clients, thereby measuring ourselves against fellow professionals.”

    According to him, “clients’ endorsement of ideas and creatives is very complex, as clients trust you with their brands and pay for services. To earn formal approval of services from paying clients would always be tough, which is why I also commend the employees who give their all, functioning as a well lubricated machine on daily basis to achieve these.”

    Recalling that his company has consistently emerged the most awarded company at the LAIF Awards for ten years running, Olubodun attributed it to a strong system put in place by the founding fathers of the company – Biodun Shobanjo and Jimi Awoshika.

    This according to him “has evolved into a functional system where everybody is aware of his/her roles and delivers on them for the common good of the business. The creative team, the account management team, the strategic planning team, each department brings value to the table to make Insight a great company. This is what reinforces our confidence that this dominance is sustainable.”

    Chima Okenimpe, Executive Creative Director at Insight Communications Limited, while applauding the LAIF and its contributions to the advertising industry in Nigeria, counselled the organisers to strive to encourage creativity with a view to “identifying and celebrating adverts that showcase true Nigerian narrative, so as to gain global recognition for the Nigerian ad industry.”

    He traced his company’s consistent performance to a culture of institutional excellence backed by a creative philosophy that has the consumer as the chief executive officer.

    “What we have at Insight is a system that watches out for excellence right from recruitment. This is further strengthened by human capital development strategy for which no cost is spared. With this culture, each employee is trained and carries about his/her duties with the understanding that the consumer is the reason for the brands we work for and our existence as a business. Now these are beginning to yield results,” he said.

     

  • Firm unveils $450m estate project

    Sijimoto Construction Limited, a real estate firm has concluded plans to commence the building of a massive edifice to meet the demand for choice residential accommodations in Ikoyi area of Lagos State.

    The Managing Director of Sijimoto Construction Limited Mr. Sijibomi Ogundele told The Nation the multimillion dollar project will be nestled on 3,800 square meters of land in the highbrow Bourdillion area of Ikoyi will be the tallest high rise on 25 floors with three pent houses.

    Ogundele said Lorenzo by Sujimoto is a magnificent development and symbol of structural mastery they hope to realise in Ikoyi’s prestigious neighbourhood of Bourdillon within a duration of 30 months adding to the large image the area invokes currently.

    According to him, the project is 30 per cent financed by the company and 40 percent by investors while off takers has 30 equity stakes in the project.

    He said, “As a society, we must free ourselves from architectural slavery. This is why in terms of features and amenities, Lorenzo by Sujimoto leads the pack in comparison to other projects within Lagos, Nigeria and Africa. With its state of the art facilities, standing shoulder-to-shoulder to what exists in top-rated countries; it is definitely a force to reckon with.”

    The fully automated outstanding luxury apartments, he said, have two kitchens, three parking spaces, standard gym, world class spa, crèche, exceptional landscape and a five-star restaurant, penthouse suite with private swimming pool.

    “The Lorenzo’s vista bestows breath-taking views of the Lekki-Ikoyi cable bridge, the Bourdillon Boulevard, the Lagos lagoon and the Atlantic Ocean. The right choice for perceptive property aficionados ready for a fusion of smart-home technology and neo-classicist crafted residences in one of the most sought after vicinity in Lagos, Nigeria.”

    Ogundele further explained that the real estate company presents home owners the elegance of world class residential poise on the nation’s shores with unrivalled features, facilities and excellent services.

    “The average contemporary apartment on Bourdillon is over $1 million and the prices keep getting better for property owners. Over the years, Bourdillon road seem to always come tops  and resilient in the high end real estate market, this proven resilience makes it a sure bet for investors.”

    “Indoor Virtual Golf & bar/Exclusive Cigar bar, 24 hours Mini Mart, Pharmacy & Clinic (Residents only) operational swimming pools (One on the 16th floor and the other on the lobby/podium).”

    According to him there will be ample vehicular parking of  two to four slots per unit, adding that price starts from 900,000 USD which is equivalent of  N190 million. On the design he said some investors that cited the 3D pictures of the luxury flats said it is an exact replica of the Zaha Hadid, the first residential building in New York.