The Nation Newspaper

Tag: certification

  • FSDH Merchant Bank gets ISO certification

    FSDH Merchant Bank Limited has received a global stamp on the reliability of its system with the award of the International Standards Organisation’s ISO 27001:2013 to the leading Nigerian merchant bank. FSDH is the first among the merchant banks that were licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to achieve this feat.

    Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of FSDH Merchant Bank, Mr. Rilwan Belo-Osagie, said that the bank attained the feat through its hard work and dedication of its people, who are seasoned professionals in the banking Industry.

    He explained that the ISO 27001 Certification demonstrates that FSDH has placed information security as priority while reassuring stakeholders that a best practice system is in place, and compliance with CBN banking industry IT Standards is achieved.

    He added that the certification would further enhance investors and customers’ confidence in the bank’s system and processes, which are already regarded as the best in the industry.

    Belo-Osagie said the company will continue to do its best to maximise shareholder value.

    He said the bank plans to do this by constantly realigning and diversifying its operations to take full advantage of unfolding opportunities as they arise.

    He pointed out that its experience as a discount house has helped the FSDH Merchant Bank expand the frontiers on the banking industry.

    “The year 2015 marks the third year of our operations as a merchant bank. We intend to continue with our time tested conservative approach of building a portfolio of risk assets that will stand the test of time; while ensuring that we meet the demands of our customers through the provision of world class financial services at all times,” Belo-Osagie said.

    He added that the bank has since starting operation offered a broader range of services to its clients thereby, deepening its client relationships, in line with the approval it secured from the CBN to commence merchant banking operations.

    He noted that since March 1993 when FSDH began operations as the first discount house in Nigeria, the company has become a financial services group focused on delivering expert financial services to its select clientele, thereby assisting them in achieving their financial goals.

    In continuation of the company’s tradition as a pioneer in the finance industry, FSDH became one of the first merchant banks to be awarded a licence in Nigeria since the repeal of Universal Banking by CBN in 2010.

  • Rice firm awaits international certification

    Rice firm awaits international certification

    A rice farm in Nasarawa State with over 960 workers will soon receive the International Standard Organisation’s certificate for food safety management, The Nation has learnt.

    Olam Rice Farm located in Doma Local Government Area of the state, was inaugurated in 2014 by former president Dr Goodluck Jonathan and touted to be a major player in the effort to scale back the country’s 12 billion dollars annual rice import profile. It is said to have cultivated only 4,000 of its 10,000 acres of land, meaning there is room for expansion.

    The ISO is said to have notified the company of its plan to issue them a certificate for food safety management. This could expand the rice firm’s capacity to employ more people and drive revenue not just for itself but also the workers.

    The Head, Sales and Distribution of the farm, Maheshi Nimte said the expansion of the farm will depend on the demand for its rice and the enabling environment from the state and federal governments.

    Nimte showed journalists around the farm, taking them to its paddy field.

    He said, “Once the paddy, which is the raw rice, reaches the intake, we check the quality. Once they upload from that point it goes straight to the silo or it can go straight for parboiling. From there they will parboil it again and it will come to the milling process.”

    That was indeed the joy of the farm owners and the tourists, who were there with their unending questions about the incredible sight of the farm. Within the farm were various shades of tools like the combined harvester, trucks and dumpers that produced the deafening metalic sound of the mechanised farm.

    Mr. Nimte said the farm cultivates rice twice yearly, in wet and dry seasons. Following the uncontrollable growth of weeds due to heavy rainfall, the harvest is always lesser than that of the dry season irrigation.

    He added that the demand for Olam Rice, branded Mama’s Pride, will determine the rate at which the company will expand the farm.

    “The idea is to increase the capacity. The idea is to produce from the farm and we have the programmes in Jigawa, Kebbi, Taraba…all of that location,” he said.

    He said, “I think for the next three years you will not see the gap filling up too much.  But if the government decides to come and give a policy that you can only depend on what we are farming within the country, that policy might close the gap as much as possible, maybe five years or six years.”

    Despite this promising outlook, the farm depends on its generators for 24 hours, which according to Nimte, has increased the cost of production.

  • Risk Control Nigeria gets ISO QMS certification

    Risk Control Services Nigeria Limited (RCS), a security firm, has received the ISO QMS 9001:2008 certification, making it the first to reach such the milestone in the background checks and anti-counterfeiting sectors of security industry in West Africa.

    This accreditation affirms that specific requirements for a quality management system are within the organisation headquartered in Lagos.

    The firm earned the recognition after embarking on a one-year rigorous process of systems enhancement and quality improvement, under the supervision of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON).

    Report of SON’s ISO auditor declared that Risk Control Services Nigeria Limited “Conforms with the requirements of ISO 9001:2008 sets of requirements for quality management system planning, implementation and maintenance.”

    Any service company that attains this distinction showed its ability to consistently provide service(s) that meet customers’ and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.

    On the achievement, RCS CEO Mr Olufemi Ajayi stated:“We are definitely proud of our achievement and convinced that the affirmation by ISO that our background checks and anti-counterfeiting services are offered through a quality management system will make our current and potential customers confident about the quality of service that we render.”

  • SAHCOL gets EU’s certification

    SAHCOL gets EU’s certification

    The European Union (EU) has designated the Skyway Aviation Handling Company Limited (SAHCOL) as its third country certified to operate as Aviation Security Validated Regulated Agent.

    SAHCOL’s spokesman, Mr Basil Agboarumi, in statement, said the validation certificate  was issued to SAHCOL after an on-site confirmation of the implementations of the security controls.

    The security controls of SAHCOL were certified to be in compliance with the objectives of EU bound air cargo and air mail.

    According to the EU regulations 173/2012 and 1082/2012, air cargo and air mail entering the EU from Third Countries Airports, otherwise called ACC3, should be validated and approved by the appropriate authority from a EU state to be able to transport secured cargo to the EU.

    ACC3’s are obliged under EU regulation EU1082 to ensure that cargo and mail destined for the EU is screened or comes from a secure supply chain.

    Since July last year, the EU regulations requires that ACC3’s must be in possession of security verifications of their cargo and mail operations at the relevant non-EU airports.

    This verification must be undertaken by an Independent Validator, certified by an EU regulator.

    By this validation, customers using the SAHCOL warehouse are assured of reliable security verification of all air cargo and mail operations for countries under the EU.

  • Union Bank gets ISO2700: 2013 certification

    Union Bank gets ISO2700: 2013 certification

    Union Bank of Nigeria Plc has been officially certified to the internationally recognised ISO27001:2013 standard for Information Security. The bank was awarded the certificate following a rigorous audit process conducted by the British Standards Institute (BSI), in partnership with Information Value Chain consulting firm, Digital Jewels.

    ISO 27001:2013 is an information security standard published by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and International Electro technical Commission (IEC), under the joint ISO and IEC subcommittee. The standard specifies the requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining and improving information security management across systems, people and processes. It also includes requirements for the assessment and treatment of information security risks specifically tailored to the needs of an organisation.

    Commenting on the achievement, the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive of Union Bank, Mr. Emeka Emuwa said: “Since we began implementing our transformation initiatives in 2014, we have continued to improve our systems and processes to deliver optimal service levels to our customers. This certification reinforces our commitment to embracing global best practices in ensuring the integrity of our customer data and a secure operating environment.”

  • MainOne’s $40m data centre gets Tier 111 certification

    MainOne’s $40m data centre gets Tier 111 certification

    West Africa’s leading provider of network solutions for businesses, MainOne, has received Tier III Certification of Design Documents for its new Lekki Data Centre, from the Uptime Institute, a United States (U.S) based consortium of companies that engage in education, publications, consulting, certifications, conferences and seminars for the enterprise data centre industry and for data centre professionals.

    The 600 rack, $40 million facility is the largest in the West African sub-region and it is built to help meet the rapidly growing demand for co-location, managed hosting and cloud services within the region.

    Its Chief Executive Officer, Ms. Funke Opeke said the state of the art facility providing highly-available and highly-redundant world class infrastructure is a carrier neutral. She said the facility, spread over 3,500 square meters, further consolidates the company’s investment in critical infrastructure to grow West Africa’s digital economy.

    She noted that the Data Center will provide a credible platform for businesses to transact online within the region without having to invest scarce capital and human resources to build out their own infrastructure, thus enhancing business efficiency and profitability.

    She said: “With the increased recognition of Nigeria as one of the leading emerging economies, it is important that we have available the infrastructure required to establish, enhance and sustain effective business performance in today’s global digital economy. Outsourcing of Data Centre and Connectivity services to a reputable provider like MainOne ensures businesses can adopt more cost effective models of consuming technology to allow increased focus of valuable company resources to drive business development and growth”.

  • Grappling with certification challenges

    Grappling with certification challenges

    Agro exports businesses are facin

    These are not the best of times for agro exports businesses in Nigeria. The business is currently facing barriers to trade in the United States (U.S), Europe and Asia thus affecting exporters in the processed food and agro-based products sector.

    Exporters face challenges such as standards set by private clients and governments that make it difficult and oftentimes expensive to export their produce. Buyers overseas seek conformity assessment and technical certificates.  These is in addition to other  licenses and permits, excessive fees and charges and packaging and storage requirements.

    While these are some inhibiting factors within the food sector, markets for agro exports are now distinguished by qualities such as their organic, local, heritage, biodynamic, or fair trade nature.

    For example, fair trade certificates are demanded by clients in the European Union (EU), especially for cocoa, coffee and horticulture products. So many   exporters are   feeling the impact.

    Chief  Executive, Anjorin & Atanda Investment Limited, Mr   Sunday Anjorin expressed concern over  the  trend  of  trade  barriers facing  agro exporters. His firm services markets in Europe and Asia.

    While there are  increasing  number of  buyers looking   for  organic  exports (commodities raised naturally), he  has had to  confront importers  interested  in  certified organic exports, a  new strand in  the  agro-export sector, receiving  serious  attention.

    The central features of what is called  certified  organic  exports is  reliance on natural methods of enhancing soil fertility and resisting disease and the rejection of synthetic chemical fertilisers, pesticides and pharmaceuticals.

    According to him,  there  is  rising  demand for organic agro commodities  especially  those  involved  in  the  production of  herbal  products.  The popularity of organic foods is fueled by mounting concerns over the chemical residues, antibiotics, hormones, and genetically modified organisms found in conventional foods.

    For this reason, new quality standards are emerging for agro exports that take care of issues such as   food safety, taste and health with a range of social and environmental production concerns. As a result, importers expect exporters to buy into any certification system established to ensure adherence to the new production process criteria.

    While organic certification is increasingly necessary for pharmaceutical and food products destined for growing markets in India, The  Nation learnt that these certification are not regulated by state institutions.

    Agro exporters such as Anjorin  have had to involve foreign agencies to monitor, certify, and label their products. In some cases, they use organic certification to differentiate commodities and to ensure access to organic premiums became widespread among exporters.

    Major organic exports include coffee, corn, sesame, vegetables, cocoa, bananas, cotton, soybeans, nuts, spices, apples and cherries.

    Anjorin said there has been a significant growth in certified tropical foods, seasonal fresh produce, and processed fruits and vegetables.

    Fresh mangos, lemons, coconut (oil), coconut (dried), plantains (fresh), peppers (fresh) and pineapples (fresh) have a huge market.

    He said Nigeria is a key supplier to diverse organic produce and processed-foods markets. The major new fresh produce exports are destined for Europe: mangos are sold largely in Belgium, plantains in Italy, and lemons in the United Kingdom.

    One commodity that has attracted certification in recent years to ensure access to price premiums is cocoa.

    According to the Programme Coordinator, Farmers Development Union (FADU), Mr. Victor  Olowe, chocolate manufacturers are requesting that cocoa exports are certified in accordance with national and international standards. The certification is legally required in destination markets.

    For producers, certification is difficult and expensive. It requires adherence to rigorous production standards, documentation rules, and oversight procedures.

    Olowe said farmers have to keep detailed farm records required for certification.

    The cocoa must similarly meet rigorous quality standards because it is used in the production of expensive chocolate.

    While Olowe sees certified cocoa as one of the most promising niches for peasant producers, this needs to be critically evaluated in the face of changing conditions.

    One is that small scale production is currently most prevalent in cocoa, where some 3000 households’ farms, each cultivating a few hectares, use household and hired labour.  Except the producers are organised into groups, they still face the challenge of having access to  selling directly in international markets.

    FADU has come to bolster the economic viability of small-scale producers by providing production and consumption credit.  Through foreign chocolate companies, the organisation is able to mediate foreign certifier demands by maintaining an internal control system and by coordinating certification.

    Currently, all the most successful producer groups, managed by FADU are strengthened by their engagement in fair trade markets.

    With sales to fair trade markets, Olowe said  the producers receive guaranteed above-market prices.

    Another area of concern is health standards limiting agro exports. As a result, many exporters are losing millions of naira in potential trade earnings yearly.

    Director-General, African Centre for Supply Chain Obiora Madu   said there are domestic technical regulations that permit countries to bar products from entering their markets if the products do not meet certain standards. These obstacles include measures that were ostensibly aimed at protecting citizens from everyday food hazards, known in World Trade Organisation (WTO) language as sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS).

    Globally, sanitary measures are aimed at safeguarding human and animal health, while phytosanitary ones are intended to protect plants.  The SPS agreement requires, for instance, that goods be imported from disease-free areas, inspected prior to export and not exceed maximum levels of pesticide or insecticide use. The concern is that fresh foods and agricultural goods pose health risks, including salmonella poisoning, foot and mouth disease and sugar plant pests.

    According to him, some of the requirements are legitimate with respect to food safety.

    He said however, that many exporters find it difficult to meet the standards because of technical and resource-capacity constraints.

    The WTO, he explained, allows countries to stop food entering their borders if it does not meet certain standards for biological and chemical contaminants.

    One example involves residues of aflatoxins which cause cancer found in processed nuts and dried fruit, among other foods.

    He said EU has demanded that food entering its market meet stricter standards for aflatoxins.

    The bar has been raised so high that even industrialised countries such as the U.S also complain about EU standards for aflatoxins.

    However, he maintained that SPS measures in the EU are not intended to block trade, but to safeguard the region’s health standards.

    He admitted that EU has set very high food-safety standards that are difficult to meet, in particular for developing countries.

    For this reason, he said the  government needs to invest in systems for safe food production, adding that the importers expect food to conform to very high safety standards, irrespective of its origins.

    According to him, numerous issues surrounding food safety today are associated with two major characteristics of modern society. First, scientific and technological advances have brought significant changes to the agriculture and food industries. Today, there are a wide variety of easy-to-prepare frozen foods, also the result of technological progress in food processing and distribution. This progress, however, is not without its share of problems. Pesticides and food additives came into wide use thus giving rise to countries  having the right to protect the lives, physical safety and health of its people.

    He said SPS measures were  introduced to prevent the entry of harmful pests and diseases via the import of foods, animals and plants. He argued that they are a justifiable means to protect life, physical safety and health. Nevertheless, consumers express strong concern that food safety could be jeopardised if appropriate SPS measures become difficult to implement in the face of increasing globalisation.

    g barriers imposed by private clients and governments. This is raising concerns among stakeholders in the industry. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

  • Lagos trains auditors on forensic accounting certification

    Lagos trains auditors on forensic accounting certification

    The Lagos State Government has begun a week-long training programme for auditors within its employ on fraud detection and forensic accounting procedure in order to enhance proper auditing of the state government accounts.

    The programme, declared opened by the State Auditor-General, Mrs. Helen Deile at the Peninsula Resorts, Lekki at the weekend, was designed to further enhance accountability, integrity and transparency in the auditing system of Lagos state.

    Deile said the training was timely, especially with the rampant cases of fraudulent acts all over the world, stressing the need to check this abnormal trend and possibly eradicate it.

    According to her, the forensic accounting certification training was organised in collaboration with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), to build the capacity of the auditors in the State Auditor General’s office about trends in the accounting and auditing profession.

    Deile expressed hope that the week-long training would make participants better officers in their respective work schedule to deliver on government mandates than before.

    She lauded the State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) for granting approval for the In-house forensic accounting certification training programme for the auditors.

    She also praised the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), while sorting for smoother relationship with the institute.

    The Deputy Registrar, Technical Services of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) Mr. Abel Aig Asein responding, commended the several giant steps always taken by the state government by cueing into laudable initiatives. He commended the state government for being the first state in the federation to embrace the forensic accounting training programme.

  • Ebola: Beyond the WHO certification

    Exactly 93 days after the Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, was imported into Nigeria, by the late American-Liberian, Patrick Sawyer, the World Health Organisation, (WHO), certified Nigeria free of the deadly disease. Subsequent to its 42-day observation, the Country Representative of WHO, Dr. Rui Gama Vaz, made the declaration at a ceremony in Abuja. While the Ebola trauma lasted in the country, 19 cases were recorded leaving in its trail eight dead with 11 survivors.

    Aside the number of lives it claimed and the psychological trauma it brought upon the country as a whole, the Ebola ordeal came with lots of economic losses. For instance, First Consultants Clinic, where the late  Sawyer was admitted, was shut down for a considerable period of time, thereby incurring losses in terms of patronage from clients. Night clubs owners and hoteliers are equally counting their losses as patronage went down for the fear of Ebola. Equally, some private schools paid dearly for the Ebola invasion in monetary and psychological terms. In the same manner, ‘bush meat’ sellers had it so bad, as no one was ready to touch bush meats with a long pole since one risk factor for the infection of Ebola Virus has been traced to the consumption of ‘bush meat’.

    As the nation heaves a sigh of relief from the Ebola onslaught, it is important to remember the men and women who fought the deadly virus to a standstill, particularly health workers, even at the risk of their lives. Our hearts go out to relations, friends and colleagues of medical workers who died while combating the virus. We must equally commend the governments and people of Lagos and Rivers states respectively while not forgetting the Federal Ministry of Health, WHO, the press, the US Centre for Disease Control and other development partners for playing integral roles in Nigeria successful containment  of Ebola disease.

    However, in spite of the WHO certification of Nigeria as Ebola free, it s not yet time for celebration, as doing so at this point would be dangerous and foolhardy. This is the time to consolidate on the gains of our triumphant wrestle with the virus. Inasmuch as neighbouring West African nations such as Liberia, Guinea and Sierra-Leone are still grappling with the disease, it remains a threat to the country. Considering the porous nature of the country’s borders, it would not be illogical to think that Ebola Virus could still find its way into the country if we completely loose our guards by thinking that the worst is over.

    That is why we all need to be more alert to ensure that our borders are impregnable. Those who are in charge of our borders need to be alert, more than ever, in discharging their responsibilities. Health workers at the various local and international airports must ensure that people coming into the country are properly screened to determine their Ebola status. Equally, all hospitals in the country need to train more of their medical personnel on how to handle Ebola related cases.

    Similarly, schools across the country must not compromise the current hygiene trend. To do that would be suicidal. Officials must continue to insist on proper hygiene among teachers and students while screening of visitors, staff and students must be a continuous process. It is only in doing this that we would be consolidating on the gains of our bizarre experience with Ebola. Officials from the federal, states and local governments too must continue to pay routine visits to schools in order to ensure compliance with stipulated Ebola preventive measures. Also, we must keep faith with all required hygienic precaution such as regular hand washing.

    Equally, this is the right time to invest heavily in the health sector of the country by supporting local scientists with needed resources to look into ways of finding cure for the Ebola virus. If our scientists could be supported by all stakeholders in the same way we resisted the Ebola virus, Nigeria could score another first in the battle against Ebola, by being the first country to discover effective vaccine for the cure of the virus. This is the kind of enterprise that we must be engaged in now.

    It is equally important that our country lends a helping hand to neighbouring West African countries being ravaged by the disease. We could assist them by providing technical and personnel support. Lagos State is already working in this direction as the government has concluded plans to send some of its health workers, that helped in tackling the virus, to help provide people in Sierra-Leone with the necessary assistance to fight Ebola. In doing this, we are indirectly helping ourselves because we cannot sleep with our two eyes closed unless the whole of Africa is totally free from the scourge of Ebola Virus.

    Perhaps more importantly, everybody must be watchful of their health situation and swiftly report any odd health situation to the nearest medical facility. Failure to do this at the right moment may possibly jeopardize numerous lives. This is not exactly the moment in time to play with health related issues. Every household must continue to preach and imbibe positive hygiene measures to guide against harmful tendencies that could jeopardise family health.

    It is important to agree and work with position of WHO Director General, Dr. Margaret Chan, that: “While the Ebola Virus Disease outbreak is over in Nigeria due to Nigeria’s geographic position and the proximity of its borders to countries with cases of the disease, it is important to continue to be vigilant for any suspected case and to observe a strict compliance with the WHO Ebola disease guidelines. There is need for the Federal Government to continue to work with states to ensure adequate preparedness to rapidly respond to any suspected case”.

    This, indeed, remains the only logical thing to do, as to do otherwise would only show that we have learnt nothing from our recent ordeal with the Ebola Virus. This is not the time to rest on our oars. Rather, this is the time to work tirelessly for the successful elimination of the Ebola Virus in Africa and, indeed, the world. We owe humanity this much.

    • Ibirogba is Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Lagos State

  • Keystone Bank gets PCI-DSS Certification

    keystone Bank has received a Certificate of Compliance on the successful completion of the Phillips Consulting assessment on Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards.

    The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) is an extensive set of guidelines developed by five of the top global payment card brands and adopted worldwide by card services providers – Card Issuers, Banks, Transaction Switching Companies and Merchants – to better protect customers’ payment card information from compromise and fraud through increased controls around the storage, transmission and processing of card data.

    Speaking during the presentation, the Executive Director, Operations and Technology, Mrs. Yvonne Isichei, who stood in for the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Keystone Bank, Mr. Philip Ikeazor, said: “Keystone Bank had engaged the services of PCI-DSS Qualified Security Assessors, Phillips Consulting Ltd, to guide it through the implementation of the standard and conduct the final certification assessment.”

    According to Mrs. Isichei, the result of the assessment is that among other things, Keystone Bank achieved the “Creation of a restricted Card Data Environment within our network; the identification and sanitisation of card data from the network environment and provision of training for our staff on card data security best practices and general awareness building on the PCI-DSS requirements”.

    While presenting the certificate, Mr. Wole Ogundare, Associate Partner, Phillips Consulting had encouraged Keystone Bank to continue to the atmosphere of compliance noting that “Compliance is not a destination but a journey.”

    PCIDSS is one of the several globally recognised and accepted standards championed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in its IT Standards Roadmap for adoption by the  financial industry.