CONTEC Global Agro Limited (CGAL), is to invest N20b on non toxic, biodegradable and chemical free agricultural products.
The Abuja based company has designed a sustainable template to increase crop yields through production of only organic inputs for over 50,000 farmers.
The agro company was set up using Eco-friendly approach with innovative organically beneficial micro-organisms and bio-resources plant based molecules devoid of chemicals for seeds, plant health and soil reclamation.
Executive Director, CONTEC Global Group, Farida Adamu, said this in Abuja at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), award dinner, where the CEO, Dr. Benoy Berry was confirred with an Outstanding Achiever in Nigeria’s food security drive award.
Her words, “We are very proud to say that Contec agro is Nigeria’s First Ever Agro Company, set up strictly using Eco-friendly approach with innovative organically beneficial micro-organisms, and bio-resources plant based molecules devoid of Chemicals for seed, plant health and reclamation of the soil that has been degraded over the years with the application of chemicals, and that is why we are investing N20 billion into the sector to address hunger, malnutrition and food security.
“To achieve our goal, we have designed a sustainable template to increase crop yields through production of only organic inputs for over 50,000 farmers,” adding that the company is “more committed through this award to be the largest agriculture group globally to provide earth friendly, commercially viable solutions of agriculture, using latest technologies, non toxic and biodegradable and eco friendly ingredients.
Berry said the company is set to deliver unique, natural products that improves crop yield and quality, while protecting the soil from harmful effects of chemical based agriculture.
He said based on the successes recorded on farms with the deployment of its organic inputs across the country by farmers, the company has concluded arrangement with some state Governors to build organic fertilizer with tissue culture at a cost of $10 million each before the end of year2018.
“In addition to this, we have over 1.2 million banana cuttings which will be planted in the company’s 5000 hectares in Eruwa town in the South-western part of the country that will provide jobs for over 10,000 rural farmers. He said it is the company’s prime objective to train farmers on the tissue culture in the six geopolitical zones before the year
Berry said the company is committed to using oits environmental friendly technology solutions to reclaim the soil that has been degraded by application of different kinds of chemicals over the past years and empower farmers through well laid out value chain farming system, and thereby increase crop yields and at the same time ensure that the soil fertility is maintained.
Tag: firm
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Firm to invest N20b in organic farming
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Firm lauds Fed Govt’s backward integration
Euro Global Foods and Distilleries Limited, Ota, Ogun-State, has thrown its weight behind the Federal Government’s backward integration policy, saying that the policy has once again proved the thinking of the government right.
The firm, a multinational, attributed the high demand of its products and subsequent posting of good profit to the policy.
Its Managing Director, Mr. Manish Uniyal, said after seven years of operation, it has achieved 85 per cent local content in raw material sourcing.
He commended the government’s policy of patronage of alternative local materials, noting that it is almost immuned to the challenges faced by other companies in the country as a result Foreign Exchange (forex) challenges.
Uniyal said: “As a proud member of Sona Group of Companies that comprise about a dozen leading companies providing pioneering and cutting-edge products, we have no choice but to key into the government’s policy of exploiting alternative local raw materials.”
He said some of their products have won international awards of quality and standards as a result of their high compliance to regulatory requirements.
Uniyal said the company has over 20 world-class products, such as Aqua Euro premium table water, produced for healthy living as well as convenience and prestige. Others are power bitters, Sabrina –dry gin, Blue Lagoon, Czar Vodka, Schnapps, Savanah and several brands of biscuits.
He said the company offers each segment the product that suits it at competitive price despite the economic situation. He also said the company beats competition by using strategic economic and management plans to drive its production and marketing processes.
Uniyal reiterated his confidence in the economy, pledging the company’s commitment to grow and automate its production processes.
He expressed confidence that the company’s products will be available across the 36 states within the next two years.
According to him, the company maintains a high degree of industry standards and strict adherence to regulatory requirements from Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
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Firm to tackle housing challenge
Determined to join the battle to reduce the housing deficit in the country, a Lagos real estate company, Cross and Churchill Estates Limited, has launched a triple assault on the problem. It has three estates of 50-unit apartments at Lekki Peninsula on the Victoria Island-Ibeju Lekki corridor.
The projects are the Orangeville Residences (Berkshire Apartments), which phase one has been completed, Shepherd Apartments, also finished, and Fort Alexander.
Berkshire Apartments consist of 24 units of standard and affordable two- and three-bedroom apartments. Shepherd’s Apartments II have 16 units of three-bedroom apartments, and the Fort Alexander boasts of a 10-unit apartments.
The Berkshire Apartments and Shepherds Apartments are to be inaugurated next month.
Berkshire Apartments are located at Okun-Ajah (on Okun-Ajah- Coastal Road), Eti-Osa Local Government Area, while Shepherd Apartments are sited after Adiva plains/Beechwood Estates, Lakowe Lake Resorts and Mayfair Gardens.
The estates feature stand-by generator, water treatment plant, paved floor, drains and walkways, parking space for two cars per apartment, security post and CCTV system. This is why its promoters have labelled the estate as “a haven of affordable luxury.” Besides, its location of just about five minutes before Amen Estates and about eight minutes before the junction of the proposed Lagos Airport, makes it investors’ delight.
Its Managing Director, Mr. Taiwo Ogunbodede, said his firm has built a sterling portfolio of properties by creating value at vintage locations and distinctive communities. He explained that while his team specialises in building highly desirable developments and structured transactions, it takes the greatest pleasure in creating beautiful communities that enrich lives, relationship that lasts and, above all, building trust. This mission, he further said, is why Cross and Churchill ensures it understands the needs of its clients and works diligently to achieve the results they desire. Hence, the firm has, over the years, developed the knack for creative and out-of-the-box solutions to housing requirements.
“Orangeville Premium Apartments adorns one of the most prestigious areas of Lagos and Nigeria – “The Lekki – Peninsula”. Coupled with the humongous opportunities that abound in this vicinity, the Lekki-Peninsula has created massive residential and commercial real estate opportunities, making it a magnetic hub. The Berkshire Apartments is a chic edifice spreading across three floors which blends modern attitude with traditional delight to create contemporary living with high specification facilities. Our bespoke living room/dining room, which was crafted with your extra coziness in mind,” Ogunbodede said, adding that the Shepherd’s Apartment II is a masterfully crafted luxurious home offering a blend of modern attitude with traditional neighbourhood comforts and brings a new meaning to urban living.
Cross and Churchill has also ensured that the apartments fits into people’s pockets in terms of affordability by reducing the commitment fees to as little as 10 per cent. “We reduced it to make entry level easy. We also offer our customers, the best in price in terms of finishing,” he said.
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Firm boosts economy with local sourcing of raw materials
Shongai Packaging Industry Ltd, a leading plastic packaging firm, in a bid to key into the Federal Government’s call on manufacturers to source raw materials locally for their production, has said it imports a little to manufacture products.
It said it is helping in creating job opportunities for the people as well as boosting the country’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP).
“At Shongai Packaging we lead the way in the industry with our state-of-the-art factory. We ensure we meet the needs of our clients and at the same time giving back to the economy, by ensuring that as much as possible we source locally made raw materials. Our products are manufactured, using the best European machines with international standards at a price that represent value,” the Executive Director, Mr. G.C.O .Anyaso, said.
He said about 98 per cent of the firm’s raw materials used in the production of its products were locally produced, while a little fraction was imported.
Anyaso said when goods are produced locally, it stems dependence on imported products and makes a country self-sufficient.
According to him, the firm is offering consumers mouth-watering offers in terms of affordability and qualitative services.
He said producing high quality products was the competitive edge the company used in winning customers, to remain relevant in the market. -
Firm unveils pipe products
Adeem Adex Nigeria Limited, in conjunction with her foreign partners, Dizayn Group has introduced new pipes, manufactured with the latest technology, into the Nigerian market.
Speaking at the unveiling of the products, the Managing Director/CEO of Adeem Adex Ltd, Adediran Adekoya expressed great joy that different sectors in the Nigerian economy, especially construction, oil and gas, telecoms would have a big cause to rejoice as the new products from globally-acclaimed Dizayn Group are miles ahead of every other brands in the country at present.
Adekoya further explained that his partnership with Dizayn Group would not be limited to distributing quality products. “Our relationship with our Turkey based partners would be extended massively into project financing both in the public and private sectors. Indeed we will extend it to include local production beginning from the first quarter of 2019. These efforts will bring greater economic prosperity for Nigeria and create more jobs for youths in the country,” Adekoya explained.
While commenting the quality of the products, Adekoya said: “Dizayn Group has been in existence for 30 years. It is one of the biggest names in pipe manufacturing globally. We felt only such a great name can help a company like ours, founded on the premise of quality and innovation, to fulfill our vision of being a one-stop shop for all quality pipes needed in Nigeria.”
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Transport firm wins Toyota prize
Transport firm, Peace Mass Transit (PMT) Ltd has won Toyota’s best customer in Nigeria for the year 2016.
It was the second time in six years, the PMT would win the prize, spurring the Japanese auto maker to present it with a commemorative plaque, and a N2m cash prize, at a colourful ceremony which held in Lagos.
PMT which celebrated its 20th anniversary recently, has a preponderance of Toyota brands in its mini-bus fleet, and must have bought the highest number of units of the popular Toyota Hummer Hiace brand to qualify for this special recognition.
The Chief Executive of PMT, Dr. Sam Maduka Onyeishi last week in Enugu at a media interaction displayed the prizes to reporters.
Toyota representative and major dealer in Nigeria, Chief Michael Ade-Ojo, had earlier made the presentations to PMT, which was represented at the occasion by its South-West Area Manager, Victor Asadu.
The event held at the Grand Banquette Hall, Civic Centre Ozumba Mbadiwe Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Chief Ade-Ojo said at the occasion that Toyota was particularly proud of Peace Mass Transit Ltd, for being “consistently loyal to its brands”, and greatly valued the business relationship existing between the two organizations.
Toyota, he said, desired that the robust and rewarding business relationship between the two got even stronger, while commending PMT’s unwavering loyalty to the Toyota brand.
Chief Ade-Ojo is owner and proprietor of the Elizade Group, Toyota’s main distributor in Nigeria.
Awards for Toyota customers were in two categories, including the one won by PMT, which was the only transport company in Nigeria so recognized.
PMT first won the Toyota best customer award in 2012. The company which has over 2,000 mini-buses in active operation at any point in time, moves over thirty thousand Nigerians daily. PMT was established by businessman, Dr. Sam Maduka Onyishi, MON, in 1996. It has a staff strength of over 4,000 and some 60 bus terminals across Nigeria. The company has the largest mini-bus fleet in Nigeria, and posts a good safety track record.
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Group endorses firm for solution to piracy
The Alliance of Nollywood Guilds and Association (ANOGA), an umbrella body for the Nigerian movie industry, has announced that it has found a solution to piracy, one of the problems facing the movie industry.
This was disclosed during a meeting of the association which held last Friday in Lagos.
The body came up with a resolution to tackle piracy in the movie industry.
They resolved that the solution to the challenges experienced by practitioners in the industry lies in the framework designed by the media distribution networks limited (an organisation based in Surulere, Lagos- Nigeria which specialises in providing world class physical and digital distribution systems for music, films, video, books, software, etc).
The company is trusted to provide an efficient and effective distribution system for the Nigerian movie industry.
The group announced in a communique signed by ANOGA president, Victor Ashaolu: “That the alliance of Nollywood guilds and association, ANOGA, has unanimously endorsed the Media Distribution Networks (MDN) project framework as designed by Media Distribution Networks limited and officially entered into a MoU with the framework for and on behalf of the Nigerian movie industry.”
It also revealed that the ANOGA has also entered into an MoU with the Media Distribution Network limited specifically to aggregate for and on behalf of its members with the Nigerian interbank settlement system (NIBSS) concerning the digital distribution of creative on the online platform.
“In addition, the Media Distribution Network Limited also appointed ZENITH BANK PLC as their LEAD BANK in the process of integrating the MDN project with NIBSS and harmonizing payment to content owners directly,” the group said in the statement.
“The umbrella body unanimously endorsed the coding and tracking framework as proposed by the MDN Limited and opened by the Global Standard one (GS1). This will form part of the coding, tracking and logistics framework of the MDN project.
“ANOGA however calls on all stakeholders in the telecommunication and broadcasting industry, digital distribution platform and all federal government relevant agencies and parastatals should take note of this new and progressive development in the film and entertainment industry in Nigeria.”
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Firm unveils apps for BVN
In its quest to eliminate fictitious address verification during the mandatory Know Your Customer (KYC) procedure in banks and other financial institutions, DataPro, Nigeria’s leading compliance Solutions Company has introduced the capturing of the Global Positioning System (GPS) featuring the latitude and longitude of an address.
Speaking to newsmen in Lagos recently, the Executive Director, Operations of the company, Mr. Oladele Adeoye explained that ‘’Since the company pioneered the outsourcing of address verification by banks in 2010, one major challenge has been how to have a fool-proof method of documenting the process.’’
In his words, ‘’with the recent introduction of our mobile application, the company is now able to completely eliminate fictitious address verification by capturing the GPS, photograph and all other physical characteristics of any address in Nigeria on-line and real time.’’
He further said: ‘’The mobile application would eliminate all paper work, guaranty proof-of-work and achieve robust turnaround time.”
By virtue of Section 3 of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act (MPLA) 2011 ( As Amended) all financial institutions are mandated to conduct the KYC procedure which involves the identification and verification of the customers demographics of name and address before establishing any business relationship with the customer. This is to ascertain that the customer is who he says he is, and also confirm if he is the Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO).
However, according to Mr. Oladele, this process is fraught with a lot of bottle-necks in Nigeria because the country does not have a comprehensive, reliable and up-to-date database of names and addresses of all its citizens.
DataPro with its presence in all the 36 states including the Federal Capital Territory is reputed to be one of the biggest compliance solutions companies in the world. -
Firm pledges 6m jobs, $5b GDP by 2020
Here’s a piece of exciting news: Over six million Nigerians will be employed in three years just as the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will increase to $5billion within five years!
These and many more are some of the goodies being promised by the Executive Vice-President of Hudson Group, Prince Tom Iseghohi.
Iseghohi, who disclosed this in Lagos at a two-day strategic session organised by the group in partnership with Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and other partners, noted that from a gallop study conducted, it was discovered that Nigeria has the highest entrepreneurial intent in the world which he said is an indication that there are more Nigerian entrepreneurs willing to start a business compared with other countries in the world.
He also noted that if entrepreneurs are given the needed support to start up a business and they become successful, the country’s GDP would grow tremendously; the per capital income would increase and employment would be addressed.
He added that in terms of conversion of entrepreneurial intent for successful businesses, Nigeria is one of the lowest in the world.
Hudson Group boss further explained that the two key reasons responsible for this challenge are as a result of lack of access to funding and access to market especially the international market, stating that the focus of the conference is aimed at creating a platform to solve the issues that face micro-small medium scale enterprises.
Expatiating, he said: “We have put together a structure that includes international financiers, private sector, government officials and technocrats, to come together to solve this problem which is to formalise micro-small medium enterprises and give it access to technical partners and funding.
“At the end of the meeting, we would have developed a clear road map that any person interested in creating a business can plug into and tap from. We have decided that we need to be measured by very clear matrix. If we are successfully, we should see SMEs getting more funding than they should have which is easily measurable.
“If we are successful, SMEs would create six million jobs in the next three years, and there should be a direct traceable impact on the GDP. Nigeria’s GDP can be trillions of dollars, but today, it is less than $500 billion and the best way to drive that is through the SMEs. We have seen the commitment of the government through SMEDAN. SMEDAN and other state governments are partnering us to try out a process which shows that this can be done.”
In his remark, the SMEDAN Director-General, Dr. Dikko Radda, who was represented by the Director Enterprise Development and Promotion Agency of Nigeria, Dr. Wale Fasanya, stated that the agency has been involved in designing programmes and projects, creating the appropriate platforms to address some of the numerous constraints of Micro Small Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs), adding that the contribution of the sector to export is 7.27 per cent.
He noted that in the face of recession, the sector is expected to serve as a catalyst for reversing the economic downslide, stressing that the expectation is not certainly misplaced but would be more justifiable if enabling environment is created for the over 37 million new jobs created by the sector.
Radda explained that as part of efforts to address the challenges faced by MSMEs, they have established a national collateral registry for MSMEs to secure loans; credit information portal to ease up the task of sourcing for information regarding available credits for MSMEs, SME rating initiative, marketing linkages, and others. -
Firm to boost solar power generation with N715b
SOLA Nigeria has set machinery in motion to boost solar power energy generation across the country with 13million pounds (about N715b), The Nation has gathered.
The fund is to help reputable companies involved in the production of solar energy in Nigeria.
Giving this hint at the weekend was the Programme Coordinator of SN, Mrs. Ifunanya Nwandu. She spoke at a renewable energy forum organised by “Power for ALL” in Abuja.
Solar Nigeria is a Department for International Development (DFID) funded programme which began in 2014.
The programme was designed to end in 2020 with the mandate to provide grants and technical assistance to companies involved in providing household solar technologies.
Nwandu said that the grant would help strong companies to accelerate their expansion to provide solar energy for 25 million Nigerians.
According to her, SN has also improved energy access for over 1.5 million people since it commenced operation in 2014.
She said that the organisation had been involved in delivering clean, reliable and affordable solar energy to Nigerians.
She said this was possible by accelerating the private markets for off-grid solar solutions.
According to her, the SN programme had also earlier provided 38 .3 million pounds to Kaduna and Lagos state governments for various developmental projects.
She said part of the projects had resulted in the construction of 175 schools and 11 clinics in Lagos and 34 primary health clinics in Kaduna with solar installations.
She said that the combined projects in both states had resulted in the provision of 6MW of solar power.
According to her, in 2016, more than 166,000 solar systems were acquired on commercial terms by individual consumers from companies who benefited from the grants provided by SN.
She said that SN was also helping to demonstrate how solar systems could be technically viable to drive growth in the private sector solar market
Nwandu said SN was committed to collaborating with the federal government and state governments to improve renewable energy to health and education facilities, particularly in the northern part of Nigeria.
In a related development, the federal government has hinted of plans to partner with relevant organisations to workout modalities for the provision of alternative sources of energy and improved wood stoves for the rural population.
Dr Shehu Ahmed, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Environment, made this known in an interview with the weekend in Abuja.
“We need to increase the use of cooking gas, liquefied natural gas, while increasing plantation of woodlots in communities or individual farms and avoiding indiscriminate bush burning,” he said.
According to him, government has put in place some strategies to keep the forest safe.
This, he said included control of wood exports to ensure forest conservation, engagement of wood-based industries in reforestation and afforestation, enhancing conversion efficiency and increasing value additions for processed wood before exportation.
He, however, said that stakeholders needed to do their bits to ensure the stoppage of deforestation.
“We all need to plan and protect our forests everywhere and anywhere, and continue to raise awareness on the need for sustainable preservation of our forests for the future generation,” he said.
Ahmed said that the federal government would intensify environmental education in schools and roll out new public awareness programmes on forest conservation and community participation.
“Awareness creation on the importance of forest to sustainable development is very critical and that is why we want to catch them young.
“This will also highlight the impact and consequences of human activities on the forests and socio-economic development as well as mobilise all stakeholders against deforestation.