The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Business

  • How adulterators are killing our business, by firm

    Nigeria Ball Point Pen Industries Plc, producers of BIC shaving stick, has lamented the large scale counterfeiting of its product by an Onitsha-based company, Bendusco international Agency and D&K Industries limited.

    The company’s National Sales Officer Mr Fatai Olashore, who is also the representative of BIC in Nigeria, said “Bendusco International Agency Ltd and D&K Industries have engaged in manufacturing, importing and selling of fake BIC Shaving sticks for over 12 years.”

    ”The search for the location of the factory where the nefarious and illegal manufacturing of BIC Shaving sticks was carried out lasted for over six years from 2006 to 2012 when we discovered its first factory in Nwaziki street, Awada, Onitsha and sought the assistance of relevant agencies, such as Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), which raided the factory and seized some equipment on  September 26, 2012.“

    He spoke in Lagos at the weekend against the background of the protest last week in Awka by Bendusco for the alleged “high handedness of officials of the SON” for seizing its products.

    Leader of the protesters Benjamin Nwizu during the protest recalled that “SON seized factory tools and machinery worth over N194 million” from its Lagos office and “locked up the place.”

    The representative of BIC, who displayed the adulterated products, said “a raid led to the recovery of millions of fake, adulterated and substandard BIC shaving sticks. This did not discourage the adulterator, who established two other illegal factories in Nsugbe Road in Onitsha and on the Onitsha-Owerri road with increased activities.”.

    He recalled that in November 2014, “due to relentless efforts in getting rid of fake BIC products from our markets coupled with the aggressiveness of SON in supporting the growth of local industries, two illegal industries operated by Bendusco were raided and closed by SON with the assistance of other relevant security agencies.”

    The Nigerian Ball Point Pen Industries said it laid off employees because of the reduction, adding that adulterated products affect consumers’ life, health and money apart from undermining confidence in BIC shaving stick safety and effectiveness.

    He said fake BIC sticks “cause rashes and bumps on the skin of unsuspecting users.”

    Workers of BENDUSCO last week marched to the office of the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), demanding for the sack of the Director-General and a director in the agency for fraudulent practices and frustration of indigenous companies in the state.

    The protesters blocked the capital city of Awka, Anambra State with placards with different inscriptions.

    Addressing  reporters after the protest, the leader of the group, Mr. Benjamin Nwizu, alleged that his life was being threatened by officials of SON for refusing to offer bribe.

  • Guinness, Oregbeni community: Looking beyond business, impacting lives

    Experts in the field of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) have described community engagement as the continuing commitment by businesses to behave ethically and contribute to economic development. It is also generally inferred that CSR is about giving back to the society.

    However, there are some organisations that go beyond the primary objective of making profits for their shareholders to build capacity for sustainable livelihoods in the communities. One outstanding example of such an organisation is Guinness Nigeria.

    Diageo,Guinness Nigeria’s parent company, recently released its sustainability and responsibility targets for 2020 which succinctly lay out the company’s plans for tackling issues in three key areas – leading the alcohol in society discourse, building thriving communities and reducing environmental impact. In its statement to announce the 2020 targets, the company said: “At Diageo we believe celebrating life, every day, everywhere means to make the most of life – to be the best you can be at work, at home, with friends, in the community, and for the community. We want our people to progress and fulfil their potential and our company to be a leader, to always make a positive contribution to society, to create shared value, wherever we work.”

    A company that thinks like this cannot but make the right connections at global and local levels to ensure these targets are achieved. In Nigeria, the development projects the company has embarked upon in Oregbeni, the host community for its Benin brewery in Edo State, Nigeria typifies this approach.

    Over the years, the company has shown its commitment to community development by consistently attending a monthly all-parties meeting,held to discuss critical issues aimed at strengthening existing relationships and the developmental challenges facing the community.  It was through this meeting and further consultations that key areas of need and intervention for the Oregbeni community development were highlighted.

    Top on the priority of the list of interventions was the construction of three major roads for the community. The roads are Igiesota, Ighodalo and Iyoha roads. Igiesota and Ighodalo roads have both been constructed with side drains and walk ways.Phase one of Iyoha, which is the longest road among the three has been completed and was commissioned by the Executive Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole on 14th November, 2013. The Governorwas  pleased with the quality of the construction work carried out on the road that he enthusiastically decided to rename it Guinness Way. Plans to commence the second phase of the construction work on the road are underway.

    Beyond roads, another pillar of Guinness Nigeria’s CSR thrust is education. From the renovation of the only Primary School in the community to providing scholarships to Oregbeni indigenes.

    The importance of foundational education was well captured by the renowned America educational philosopher, Richard M. Hutchins who said “the object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives.” This is what makes the example of the primary school of particular interest because   before the renovation, the school was bedeviled by a barrage of problems ranging from bad roofs, defaced walls to broken windows and doors and lacked basic amenities such as toilet facilities and perimeter fencing of the school compound.

    The company ploughed a huge sum of money into the renovation effort changing the entire roofs of the school, painting of the entire school buildings, fencing of the school compound for security, replacement of broken doors and windows as well as provision of toilet facilities for both staff and pupils of the school. In addition to the renovation of the school, the organisation provided an overhead tank for water supply to the school and donated textbooks and notebooks to the school.

    Critical to the success of any community initiative is the commitment and ownership of said initiative by indigenes and Guinness Nigeria ensured this by awarding the contract for the renovation to the indigenes after following due process of bidding for the project there by providing employment for a significant number of residents.

    Beyond education, Guinness Nigeria and Diageo have a commitment to “reduce water use through a 50percent improvement in water use efficiency as well as return 100percent of waste water from our operations to the environment safely.” In Oregbeni community,the company installed a water treatment plant in 2007 consisting of two giant reservoirs with standby 20 KVA Generator to complement public power supply.Guinness also supplies diesel every month with backup services and has provided a paid operator to ensure constant water supply to the community.

    The relationship between Guinness and the community appears to be the poster child for community-business relations.

  • Barloworld enhances business via cloud solution

    Barloworld Equipment, a subsidiary of the Barloworld Group, realised the need to transform its business operations to maintain competitive edge.

    With its diverse operations, including technical service centres, warehouses across multiple locations, fractured data and equipment, the firm reiterated its determination to transform its 12-year-old IT backend system to maintain pace with digital demands.

    Barloworld Equipment has therefore partnered with Britehouse, SAP partner that recommended a hosted CRM solution, SAP Cloud4Customer, to improve the planning and execution of sales, as well as bring service, marketing and e-commerce operations into the fold.

    “We opted for SAP Cloud4Customer because it appeared not only to be able to solve our ongoing synchronisation issues, by providing online and offline transaction capability, but also provided us with a number of new options, including a full view of our many operations,” said Barloworld Equipment e-process manager, Andrew Kerr.

    Barloworld Equipment is the first African customer to implement SAP Cloud4Customer and now has a single platform that delivers consolidated data management with mobility capabilities and provides real-time flow of information. The project team developed a proof of concept system within two weeks and had six months to implement the entire new solution.

    “This project illustrates that Barloworld Equipment really comprehends that, in a highly competitive marketplace, a compelling and sustainable customer experience is built on information and end-to-end business integration. It also demonstrates that cloud-based solutions enable Barloworld Equipment to deliver these capabilities fast and flexibly,” said Ashley Boag, director of cloud at SAP Africa.

    “The information fuelling insights leading to added value for Barloworld Equipment’s customers and, simultaneously, more efficient and flexible business processes, comes from many different sources; SAP’s cloud solutions like SAP Cloud4Customer are ideally suited to providing the integration and collaboration that enables Barloworld to retain its leadership position across Africa.”

    Said Barloworld Equipment general manager: sales and supply chain, Lloyd Thomas: “This was the fastest SAP implementation with enterprise-wide impact with which I have been involved.”

    The result was a backend system that met current demands and created opportunities for future innovation. This successful turnaround is also testimony that updating legacy systems is simple, can be completed without major disruption and in record time, even on a decentralised and highly customised IT backend.

  • Business owners issue one month ultimatum to DISCOs

    Piqued by the eratic power supply, Business owners in the South East have issued electricity companies one month ultimatum to either improve or face court action.

    They argued that the outage was not as a result of shortage in power generation, but due to incompetence on the part of the companies.

    Speaking at the weekend, Chief Sam Nwosu, Chairman, SACON Group who spoke on behalf of business owners in the South East, also called on the Federal Government to probe activities of the Electricity Distribution Companies (DISCOs) operating in the country.

    The group said they have been left with no other choice, adding  that businesses have continued to suffer untold economic hardship as a result of poor power supply despite the improvement in power generation.

    Nwosu in a petition noted that businesses have not been able to enjoy up to one hour power supply in the East compared with other parts of the country.

    Calling for the urgent intervention of the Federal Government, he said the power companies in the East have not displayed any level of competence.

    Nwosu also said that from close observation, it is obvious that due diligence was not carried out on most of the companies. He therefore called on the  government to look into the contract sales of the DISCOs and should any one fail the integrity test, such a contract should be revoked.

    The petition which was made available to Journalists reads: “we are also aware of the remarkable improvement in electricity supply across the country.

    “But unfortunately, we are not enjoying any of it here in Akwa, Anambra state. Yet at the end of the month your company sends us heavy bills including your “fixed rate” charges for services not rendered.

    “We are therefore constrained at this time to speak out and alert the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), the federal ministry of power, the Consumer Protection Council (CPC), Human Rights organisations, the newly appointed senate committee of inquiry on the activities of DISCs on our prolong and seeming intractable and insurmountable hardship.”

  • Five start-up secrets for women

    Five start-up secrets for women

    For the majority of women in Nigeria, entrepreneurship is a necessity. There are no jobs or viable alternative options, however, from writing a business plan to coming up with a name to hiring employees, a startup can seem overwhelming.

    Many Nigerian women who have always wanted to start their own business never do, simply because they are weighed down by the process and unsure of what specifically is required. It is no secret that women in the startup world generally face a series of unique challenges. Not only are they significantly out-numbered by men, they also find themselves intrinsically disadvantaged either by the limited funding or a dearth of high-power female role models with actual experience.

    There is no secret formula or tactics when it comes to what make female entrepreneurs thrive. Instead, what it takes to succeed is, in a lot of ways, gender neutral as the steps one needs to get there similarly should not be confined to gendered lines. At the moment, the investing community is predominantly made up of men investing in other men, making it even much more difficult for the women to hold the reins. With this in mind, Jovago.com, Africa’s No 1 online hotel booking portal has put up 5 start-up secrets for Nigerian women who are keen on building a successful startup anyway and fulfilling their dreams.

    Do not overthink it.

    Unlike men, women are much more likely to ask the question: “What if?” Starting anything is challenging, but the female tendency to worry can prevent them from making the first step. Do not second-guess yourself, even if the idea is a moon shot.

    Over thinking breeds fear which can stop you before you begin. Thoughts about the risk of failure, humiliation, and criticism that may come along the way can overwhelm the desire to start, especially when you have other people to care for besides yourself. However, the biggest risk is not trying. You will never know what you are capable of until you jump off of the edge entirely.

    Simplify your mission.

    Invest time to defining and breaking down the structure and goal of your business to the simplest form; be specific about what it does and what it represents.

    If you nail down a 60 – 90 seconds synopsis, it will yield a lot of dividends throughout the life of your business. Again, a simple mission makes drafting a list of actionable steps you can take every day to work towards your startup easier.

    Arm yourself with patience.

    Patience is a virtue that can be learned. It may take a much longer than expected to achieve your goals, but it is important to remain passionate and patient.

    Understand that every business will have its up and downs, surround yourself with positive thinkers and be in touch with mentors, preferably other female entrepreneur with actual experience as there are issues only female founders encounter.

    Never underestimate the importance of having role models.  Try to learn from their experiences and how they managed to survive during the most difficult times. This gives you strength and motivation.

    If possible try forming your own group of female founders and meet up regularly. If you can hang around long enough and accept the challenges that come your way, it will only be a matter of time before you achieve your goals.

     Invest in a good watch

    The aim is not to look chic, but more on showing how important time is to you.

    As a Nigerian women in the startup world, high chances are you do not have a lot of nor brand equity, so it is important that you use your time wisely your greatest asset is your time. Time management is essential to the success of any startup.

    A founder has to determine how to best employ each hour of the day to make the biggest impact on her brand. Wasted time means wasted efforts in building the brand of your dreams.

    Do not transfer aggression

    While it is essential to surround yourself with an awesome team, it is important to also remember that you are going to need them to overcome all the obstacles that come with starting and maintaining a company.

    The success of any startup lies on the team and not only on how well they manage their specific duties, but on how well they are managed as well.  You will need to have a firm grip on your emotions and learn to stay away from transferring the aggression that comes from strong emotions like fear and anger to your team while managing them.

    Be as stern as you need to be, but nothing good comes from you bringing your lack of emotional control into the work, chances are that you will create a wall or divide between you and your team, and that will certainly  have a negative effect on output.

  • Helping women to look good is serious business

    Abimbola Odunusi, a graduate of Microbiology from  Crawford University, Ogun State, is savouring the success of her firm, Sweet N Savy Couture, a Lagos-based fashion label, which targets  women. It was established four  years ago.

    But the dream of establishing her business has been with her since she was young. Then she used to sketch designs.

    Her words: “I have been sketching designs since 2002. I have always loved to draw from imagination.”

    In 2009, after her university education, while waiting for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), she learnt how to sew. She  started in 2011.

    She later registered the business,which took off with N25,000. Today, she is making waves with her designs.

    Always neatly dressed, she  has given styling a new meaning by designing dresses with a refreshing and the much-needed newness and vision. Her  target audience is middle and upper class women.

    Her pieces reflect creativity and design innovation. Daring, futuristic and all-pervading, Odunusi represents the new Nigerian fashion movement because of the uniqueness of the materials that go into her works and the fusion in creating the piece.

    Each dress has a story behind it that is as beautiful as the dress itself, she said.

    The  markets have been overflowing with clothing made from imported and local fabrics. Independent designers are  working in street markets, festivals and small boutiques to sell various clothes in both native  and western styles. Her  style is deploying a strong sense of aesthetics appreciated by  the middle and upper middle classes. The journey so far has been good.

    She loves the excitement and challenges the startup brings. The icing on the cake is the feeling of fulfillment and satisfaction that she derives from creating something which helps people dress better. The other is her  freedom to implement new ideas. Her ability to brainstorm and fire fight along with her dynamic ideas adds to the joy.

    Her journey from being a new start-up in a very competitive landscape has been a stimulating, yet challenging. The industry is very competitive and there are many designers with established brands.

    As a new label, it is very easy to get lost in the competition, and very difficult to get attention, and to inspire confidence and interest in a new brand. But she feels her brand will get its recognition in time as her ideas are futuristic.

     

     

    She wants to create a directional brand rather than the one that reacts to the demands of the market.

    She believes in encouraging youths to start their own businesses rather than wait to get jobs.

  • Insecurity cripples Northeast hide-and -skin business

    The current security challenge in the Northeast has crippled the hide- and-skin business in Borno State, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

    While the state-owned shoe-making and hides tannery firm, Neital Nig. Ltd, has been grappling with problems, the bustle that used to characterise the premises of the Maiduguri Central abattoir, is completely gone, especially after the blast that rocked the location some time ago.

    Alhaji Usman Tomsu, General Manager of the Maiduguri Neital Nigeria Ltd, speaking on the experience of the company, said it went comatose after operating for 10 years without making profit.

    “The company had been moribund for nearly two decades, until Gov. Kashim Shettima injected funds in 2013, to enable it jump-start its operations,” Tomsu said.

    “The over N500 million returned profit recorded by Neital Nigeria Ltd in the 2013 fiscal year, was the first major profit made since its establishment 32 years ago.

    “With all necessary equipment in place, we gave ourselves a target of generating at least $1 million profit in the two years of our resumption of full operations, that is from 2013 to 2015.

    “Following that intervention, Neital resumed operations and went into export of finished leathers to Italy and Spain, intensifying sales of finished leather in Nigeria, in addition to production and sales of shoes.”

  • NAICOM unveils guidelines for business

    NAICOM unveils guidelines for business

    The newly introduced Market Conduct and Business Practice Guidelines, shall guide  insurance institutions in the nation, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), has said.

    The commission said failure to abide by the guidelines, which take effect from last month would attract stringent sanctions.

    This was made known by the commission’s Deputy Director, Administration and Supervision, George Onekhena, while presenting the rule books to operators at the just concluded 2015 Maiden Insurance Mega Conference in Abuja.

    Onekhena said the Commission is ready to get tougher on erring operators going forward.

    He said NAICOM released the guidelines in exercise of the power conferred on it by provisions of section 49 (1) of National Insurance Commission Act 1997.

    He said the release of the guidelines marks the beginning of Risk- Based Supervision in the industry, stating that they are partly an extract from the World Bank Risk Based Supervision.

    He stressed that the Commission would implement the guidelines to as recommended by the World Bank.

    He said: “The guidelines, among others, set out the framework for fair policies, procedures and effective claims management, trade practices and fair treatment of customers, operations, pricing, commission and associated returns as well as foreign facultative reinsurance placement by reinsurance brokers.

    “Others are appointment, operation, expansion and documentation, registration requirements, accounts, returns and International Financial Reporting Standard harmonisation carve-out for insurance brokers in Nigeria”.

    He further said the objectives of the guidelines are to set out minimum standards required from insurance institutions in their dealings with clients, policy holders and shareholders and other stakeholders.

    “It seeks to promote greater fairness and transparency between policyholders and insurance institutions, establishes strong market conduct among practitioners and stakeholders.

    “It establishes strong market conduct among practitioners and stakeholders. Strong market conduct ethics serve to reduce mistrust that may exist between clients and insurers, and enhanced mutual confidence improves market efficiency. Conversely, weak market conduct ethics are usually the major reason for the poor development of an insurance market.

    “It also provides the board of directors and management of insurance institutions with a framework for the establishment of policies and procedures for effective claims management. This is imperative as insurers stake their reputation and financial stability on the quality and efficiency of their claims operations.”

    Onekhena added that the guidelines provide principles to ensure customers are treated fairly, both before a contract is entered into and through to the point at which all obligations under the contract are discharged.

    He said the guidelines state the responsibility of the insurance institutions in ensuring that their activities are properly coordinated and carried out in a professional manner while it also sets out the general licensing and authorisation requirements for insurers, intermediaries and other insurance institutions.

     

     

     

  • Making a better life in business

    Making a better life in business

    Mbuotidem Okorie dream’t of having his own business, but his disability forced him to beg for a living without hope of work. A Shell programme in Nigeria supporting young entrepreneurs has helped him and others achieve their ambitions.

    Without the use of his legs, and having no wheelchair or work, the 21 year-old paraplegic, struggled to get around the streets of his hometown, Uyo, Akwa Ibom, on his hands, begging for food.  It was a stark contrast to his dream of owning a shoemaking business.

    “I was begging on the streets just to survive,” he said.

    Nigeria suffers from very high levels of youth unemployment. For those with disabilities, finding work is particularly hard, and there is little social protection on offer. He now makes and sells shoes in his own shop. He receives applause at the Shell LiveWIRE graduation ceremony in June 2014

    He was nominated by officials from his home state of Akwa-Ibom for the social investment programme called Shell LiveWIRE, which offers knowledge and support to young entrepreneurs, helping them to turn ideas into successful businesses. The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) broadened the scheme last year to include people with disabilities. About 180 disabled people took part.

    Mbuotidem trained as a shoemaker through Shell LiveWIRE, which also provided him with a wheelchair. When he completed the course he received financial assistance to start his own business, using his new skills.

    Now he makes and sells shoes in his own shop. “I no longer have to beg,” he said.

    Mbuotidem is one of the 5,700 young Nigerians to have benefited from Shell LiveWIRE since it was launched in 2003.

    “The Shell LiveWIRE Nigeria programme is a first step in an exciting journey to success,” said Nedo Osayande, Sustainable Development and Community Relations manager at SPDC. “This is the first time the programme is focusing on people with disabilities. We are sure they will continue the successes of thousands previous Nigerian participants.”

     

    • Culled from http://www.shell.com/global/future-energy/inside-energy/inside-energy-stories/livewire-nigeria.html

  • Young business leaders target 1.2m jobs

    Young business leaders have vowed to generate millions of jobs for the unemployed before the end of next year.

    They made the pledge when they gathered yesterday for the launch of Young Business Leaders of Nigeria (YBLN) – a network of young professionals aimed at assisting budding entrepreneurs to hone and develop their business acumen.

    The focus of discussion at the forum at Muson Centre in Onike, Lagos, was centred on how potential and innovative minds of young people could be harnessed to generate the promised jobs and ease the nation’s employment burden.

    Ms Temitayo Etomi, YBLN founder, said the initiative was aimed at creating platform for entrepreneurs to rally resources together for the financing of practicable business ideas.

    They ideas, she said, would generate decent employment for the youth before the end of December 2016.

    Temitayo, who is a 2014 Mandela Washington Fellow, said several feasible strategies had been mapped out to create opportunities for unemployed and under-employed people, who are willing to change their conditions.

    To achieve the aim, she said the group would engage unemployed youths in batches of mentorship programmes that would run for eight weeks, after which the trainees would be given soft loans to start businesses in their preferred areas of interest.

    If continued, Temitayo, who is the group managing partner of Redwire Marketing Group, said the group, by the end of 2016, would have achieved its projection to engage more than one million jobless youths in lucrative ventures that would have positive impact on the economy, adding that the group would also train unskilled people to create employability values for their self-sustenance.

    She said: “The YBLN has objectives to bring about new idea that will help solve unemployment crisis. It is basically exploring the effort and ideas of a minority in business to help confront the challenges of the majority who don’t have job. We are creating a network of young professionals and business leaders to create platform for solving unemployment crisis we are facing.”

    She said the initiative would be funded from regular contributions by successful businessmen, adding that the money would be used to train jobless youths in employability skills and finance entrepreneurship ideas that are found business-worthy.

    Noting that the rising unemployment was taking its toll on the country, Temitayo said two of every three youths are either unemployed or under-employed. She said government alone could not be responsible for provision of lucrative jobs, saying it was time for young people to think about how they could use their potential to create opportunities for themselves.

    The event featured a discussion on unemployment, which had top business managers, including Mr George Etomi, Managing Partner of Etomi and Partners, Ms Doyin Odunfa, Chief Executive Officer of Digital Jewel and Mr. Uyi Akpata, Country Partner, PricewatersCoopers, as discussants. The Editor of Sunday Punch, Ms Toyosi Ogunseye, moderated the session.