News Wings

Tag: Nestle

  • Feature: Coping in Nigeria’s High-Inflation Economy

    Feature: Coping in Nigeria’s High-Inflation Economy

    By Elvis Eromosele

    Economists say inflation is a persistent rise in prices. It happens when there’s too much money chasing too few goods. Inflation in Nigeria today has become a huge challenge, affecting businesses, consumers, and the overall economy. As inflation rates soar above acceptable thresholds, companies are navigating uncharted waters to stay afloat.

    Inflation is bad for everyone. It erodes the purchasing power of consumers, increases the cost of raw materials, and heightens operational expenses. For businesses, the ripple effect can be devastating including but not limited to reduced profit margins, lower consumer spending, and the constant pressure to balance affordability with profitability.

    The situation is particularly dire for industries dependent on imported goods, as fluctuating exchange rates intensify costs. However, local businesses are also feeling the pinch due to rising fuel prices, high transportation costs, and an unreliable power supply.

    To navigate the challenging economic environment, businesses across Nigeria are adopting innovative strategies to remain competitive and sustain growth.

    Promotional discounts and offers have become effective tools for attracting and retaining customers. Companies are leveraging these deals to provide value without entirely sacrificing revenue. The Place, a popular restaurant chain, has introduced a 20 per cent discount on all rice dishes. This initiative not only appeals to cost-conscious consumers but also drives customer loyalty.

    Another key approach is localized sourcing. To reduce costs and support the local economy, many companies are shifting their focus from imported raw materials to sourcing locally. Unilever exemplifies this strategy by prioritizing local suppliers to reduce its environmental footprint, enhance product accessibility, and create employment opportunities. The company collaborates with local farmers and suppliers for ingredients and packaging materials, such as sourcing sorbitol for toothpaste from cassava starch through Psaltry International. This is a move that has generated jobs in farming and manufacturing. Unilever is now on track to achieve over 90 per cent local sourcing for its packaging materials.

    Businesses are also adopting lean operations to curb rising operational costs. Implementing energy-efficient solutions, renegotiating supplier contracts, and embracing remote work models where feasible have proven effective in optimizing resources and reducing expenses.

    Innovative pricing models are gaining popularity as companies seek to maximize revenue during peak periods. Dynamic pricing, which adjusts prices based on demand, is increasingly utilized in the hospitality and retail sectors to achieve this goal. Think of the Detty December report.

    Diversification of offerings is another strategy businesses are employing to meet the needs of a broader customer base. Fast-food chains, for instance, are introducing affordable meal options to cater to low-income earners. Chicken Republic, for example, now offers a simple meal of white rice, stew, and egg, providing a budget-friendly option for consumers.

    Furthermore, digital transformation is playing a pivotal role in helping businesses adapt to current realities. The adoption of e-commerce platforms, digital payment solutions, and social media marketing is enabling companies to reach a larger audience while minimizing overhead costs. This shift to technology-driven solutions is essential for businesses to remain relevant and competitive in the evolving marketplace.

    Nigerian businesses are demonstrating remarkable resilience and ingenuity, positioning themselves to thrive despite economic headwinds. The Place, for example, has transformed a simple discount into a strategic response to inflation. By reducing prices on one of their most popular menu categories, rice dishes, they not only attract new customers but also promote loyalty among existing ones.

    Telecommunications companies like MTN and Airtel have also introduced flexible data plans, allowing customers to access essential services without feeling the full brunt of inflation. Similarly, FMCG companies like Nestle, Checkers Africa and Unilever are packaging products in smaller, more affordable sizes to cater to price-sensitive consumers.

    While businesses are adapting, the government has a critical role to play. Policy measures such as stabilizing the exchange rate, addressing infrastructure deficits, and providing tax incentives for local production can help create a more favourable environment for businesses.

    For companies like The Place, these efforts are more than survival tactics—they are a testament to the adaptability and innovation that define the Nigerian entrepreneurial spirit. In the face of adversity, Nigeria’s business community continues to demonstrate that where there’s a will, there’s always a way.

    Eromosele, a corporate communication professional and public affairs analyst, wrote via: elviseroms@gmail.com

  • Feature- #MakeNigeriaBetter: Ondo State

    Feature- #MakeNigeriaBetter: Ondo State

    As we step up our review of what each of Nigeria’s 36 states can bring to the table, today we examine Ondo State, the territory with the largest tropical rainforest area in the country

    Ayo Akinfe

    [1] Ondo State has the largest tropical rainforest area in Nigeria, so it is no surprise that it is the country’s largest cocoa producer. Known as “the food of the gods, cocoa needs the canopy of the tropical rainforest to grow. Ondo State should thus have an economy centred around cocoa growing, processing and chocolate production. I am sure most Nigerians do not know that Ondo is also Nigeria’s fifth largest crude oil producer after Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta states

    [2] Can someone please explain why the Ondo State government has not built the world’s largest cocoa plantation in Owena. Nigeria is currently the world’s sixth largest cocoa producer with an output of about 245,000 tonnes and Ondo State is the largest producer in Nigeria. This Owena plantation should have an output of about 10,000 tonnes with the potential to rise to 50,000 tonnes

    [3] Then, the state government should build Africa’s largest cocoa-grinding plant in Ondo City. Emulating the vision of Alhassan Dantata, they should gather cocos beans from farmers over a 200-mile radius stretching to Ado Ekiti, Akure, Owo, Idanre, Ilesha and as far south as Ilaro. Beans will be ground into cocoa butter and powder at this plant employing as many as 1,000 staff

    [4] Our Ondo State governor should then approach chocolate companies like Nestle, Mars, Cadburys, Barry Callebaut and Lindt & Sprüngli, asking them to build a chocolate processing plant at Ore, the gateway between eastern and western Nigeria. This will make Ondo State the agro-processing capital of Nigeria. It will be a game changer that alters the state of the Nigerian economy forever

    [5] To process chocolate, you need other things like sugar, milk, peanuts, cashews, coconuts, shea nuts etc. Ondo State government should thus initiate plans to grow coconuts in its coastal areas in places like Aiyetoro, Mahin, Igbotu and Igbobini in Ilaje Local Government Area. Joint ventures should then be entered into with other states to produce other ingredients. For instance – Kwara (Sugarcane), Kano (groundnuts), Ogun (Cashews), Benue (Shea nuts). These states should then all be linked with a railway cargo network so goods can be transferred from one point to another with ease

    [6] Ondo State then needs to construct a cargo export terminal along the coast at Aiyetoro to export finished products. What I have in mind is the building of a packaging plant there so that Ondo State can actually export retail-ready finished products to anywhere in the world. To augment this, the Ondo State government should then ask investors if they are interested in building a cargo terminal at Akure Airport so their goods can be flown out if need be. Companies like Nestle, Mars, Cadburys, Barry Callebaut and Lindt & Sprüngli build such terminals all over the world to ship their products

    [7] For me, however, Ore remains the joker in the pack. It is the gateway between eastern and western Nigerian and simply has to become one of the most industrialised cities in Nigeria. Ore must become an industrial hub similar to Nnewi and Aba. It should be developed into a major travel stopover joint, too with hotels, fairground rides, restaurants, etc

    [8] More importantly, Ore should have a battery warehouse built to halve the trip between Lagos and the southeast geo-political zone. That was how Cape Town in South Africa was built. It served as a halfway stop over point between Europe and Asia, halving the trips merchants needed to make

    [9] Our Ondo State government should then expand the production of cash crops like palm oil, kolanuts, rubber, timber, cassava and maize. Other parts of the world like Bahia in Brazil, Sumatra in Indonesia, Borneo in Malaysia, Entre Rios in Argentina, India’s Uttar Pradesh or Punjab in Pakistan generate as much as $50bn in some instances in foreign exchange earnings and that must be our goal in Ondo State. Malaysia for instance makes $10bn from palm oil exports alone

    [10] How many Nigerians know that Ondo State is sitting on $10bn worth of annual bitumen exports. Other juicy assets it has include the tourist attraction Idanre Hills and the Oluwa Glass Company. Ondo State could easily be self-sufficient without any federal allocation. Over the next five years, it should have export revenue projections that look like this: cocoa – $10bn; bitumen – $10bn; tourism – $10bn, palm oil – $5bn, timber – $5bn; transport – $5bn; kolanuts – $5bn; cassava – $5bn, glass – $5bn

  • Feature: Transforming Cross River State into Nigeria’s Economic Powerhouse to Boost National Development

    Feature: Transforming Cross River State into Nigeria’s Economic Powerhouse to Boost National Development

    by Ayo Akinfe

    For Nigeria to work, we need to get the country’s 36 states functioning. Let us kickstart this process by looking at the economic potential of Cross River State

    [1] Cross River is Nigeria’s second-largest cocoa-producing state, with an annual crop of about 80,000 tonnes. It also has the advantage of bordering Cameroon which has an annual crop of 180,000 tonnes. Calabar should be a major chocolate processing centre with the likes of Mars, Cadbury and Nestle all owning processing plants there

    [2] Calabar port used to be the major centre for the export of slaves along the West African Coast. If it is taken over by the Cross River State government, it can dredged and made Africa’s busiest deep sea port, with an annual capacity of about 3m twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers. Lagos is currently Africa’s biggest port with a capacity of about 1.4m TEU

    [3] Calabar is Nigeria’s gateway to East and Central Africa. It’s airport should be a major international transit point like the Cairo and Johannesburg airports from where all airlines offer flights to places like Nairobi, Libreville, Luanda, Dar es Salam, Bangui, Malabo, Kinshasa, etc

    [4] Given its location bang in the centre of Africa, Calabar should also be a major aircraft maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) centre. Airlines from all over the continent should bring their planes their for servicing

    [5] Once an MRO centre is up and running, Cross River State should begin wooing the likes of Embraer, Boeing, Bombardier, Airbus, etc to set up manufacturing plants in Calabar

    [6] There is no reason why we should not have the world’s largest shipyard at Ikot-Nakanda. We should attract all the largest shipbuilders and they should be manufacturing speedboats, Panamax carriers, passenger cruise liners, submarines, aircraft carriers, destroyers, etc there

    [7] The only city in Cross River State with a motorable road to Cameroon is Ikom. This is simply disgraceful. We should have Calabar-Yaoundé, Calabar-Douala, Calabar-Libreville, Calabar-Luanda, Calabar-Brazzaville and Calabar-Kinshasa highways, which should all be major trade arteries. Tolls on these roads alone should fetch a minimum of $1bn annually

    [8] Do you know that Cross River State is home to all sorts of rare wildlife, including silverback gorillas? A wildlife sanctuary should be built in somewhere like Sankwala. This facility should rival Kruge National Park

    [9] Cross River State has a landmass of 20,156 km2, most of it virgin farmland. It has one of the largest tropical rainforest areas in Nigeria, so can grow a variety of crops. Cities like Calabar, Obudu, Biakpa, Ikom and Ikot-Nakanda should all be major food processing centres

    [10] No law in Nigeria prevents the Cross River State government from building and running a coastal Calabar to Lagos railway line. Just imagine how much this would generate in income annually

  • Feature: Invest in a moi-moi pouch manufacturing facility

    Feature: Invest in a moi-moi pouch manufacturing facility

    by Ayo Akinfe

    I am surprised that not one state government in Nigeria has invested in a moi-moi pouch manufacturing facility using these leaves.

    [1] Nigerians erroneously believe that the main cause of all their problems is corruption. Well, I can tell them now, that all our problems as a nation stem from the fact that we are not productive enough

    [2] Our productivity is so low due to a combination of intellectual laziness, sheer incompetence, vanity, a preference for ostentation, an over-dependence on the government and a general lack of initiative among the populace

    [3] Here is a classic case of Nigeria sitting on a potential goldmine and nobody doing anything about it. The initiative is key to the development of a nation

    [4] For centuries, we have made moi-moi in these leaves. They say these leaves provide a unique aroma you do not get when you use tin foil or other forms of packaging

    [5] Some packaging companies have already made a move in the market with the introduction of moi-moi pouches. However, are these pouches ever going to become mass-market products?

    [6] If any company wants to corner the market, it needs to make its pouches out of these special leaves

    [7] What I would like to see is one state governor take the initiative here. Launch a venture in which the state government owns a 25% stake with the rest of the company owned by the private sector

    [8] Let us assume, for instance, that it is Governor Lucky Ayedatiwa of Ondo State who launches such a venture for instance. He should locate the plant at somewhere like Ore, maybe calling it the Nigerian Food Packaging Company and then get confectionery giants like maybe Unilever, Gino, Nestle, etc to own 75% of the company. His government should be content with a 25% stake

    [9] Just imagine the number of jobs this venture will create. It will also spur the expansion of plantations to grow more of these leaves and ultimately the opening of plants to manufacture the equipment used in the factory

    [10] You see, this kind of company would be a mega game changer, as it would turn Nigeria into the manufacturer of a globally acclaimed product that will generate billions in foreign exchange earnings. Sadly, the oil doom has blinded us to these kind of opportunities

  • Glovo reinforces its commitment to the growth of SMEs in Nigeria

    Glovo reinforces its commitment to the growth of SMEs in Nigeria

    …celebrates outstanding partners at its annual Partners and Brands event with over 80 local and international partner brands in attendance

    Glovo, one of the world’s leading multi-category apps, has launched Glovo Ads, a new offering designed to enable brands, restaurants and shops to accelerate their growth and market themselves to consumers directly in-app. This was announced at its annual Partners and Brands event which took place recently in Ikoyi, Lagos to celebrate the power of partnerships in boosting Nigeria’s Q-commerce industry.

    Lorenzo Mayol, Brands Ads Director for Africa and outgoing General Manager for Glovo Nigeria kicked off the event by introducing Lamide Akinola, the newly appointed General Manager of Glovo Nigeria. In his address, he explained that Glovo Ads has been specifically designed to provide partners with the tools they need to deploy campaigns across the marketing funnel and help small businesses and restaurants to drive sales in their local area.

    Both large multinational brands and small independent shops can use Glovo’s specialist services through two specific platforms:

    • Through Brands Ads, marketers can use auto bidding, an advanced automation solution that optimises the bidding process by calculating the expected value of the impression based on the learned conversion rate over time and the price of the product.
    • With Partner Ads, small and medium-sized shops and restaurants are guided as to the best placement within the app to ensure the highest return on investment. And because many of these businesses don’t have dedicated marketing teams, Glovo Partner Ads makes it easy to start advertising with any budget on a pay-per-click basis that can be paused at any time to ensure partners always see a positive return on investment.

    Glovo Ads will also provide off-app services, enabling both brands and smaller retailers to reach users through programmatic buying, all via Glovo’s self-service model. Brands can also see how their campaigns are performing in real time, enabling them to adjust their spending to target consumers accordingly both on and off the app. Already, companies in Nigeria such as Coca-Cola, Bacardi, Pernod Ricard, Diageo, Nestle, Tolaram and Reckitt, have built Glovo into the marketing stack, while multinational advertising companies like Publicis are working with their clients to market through the app.

    Lorenzo Mayol, Brands Ads Director for Africa, explains: “With millions of users regularly buying a dynamic range of products thanks to our multi-category offering beyond just takeaway and grocery shopping, we can help these businesses to build brand awareness and grow sales at a time when it is becoming significantly more challenging to reach customers effectively.”

    Lamide Akinola, in her first public appearance as the General Manager of Glovo Nigeria, shared inspiring insights into Glovo’s remarkable achievements, focusing on its high-level statistics, user growth, and overall success. Lamide proudly announced that the platform has experienced an outstanding 350% growth rate year-on-year, attributing this impressive result to Glovo’s unwavering commitment to affordability and customer satisfaction.

    “Our continued growth and success reflect the trust and loyalty that both our partners and customers have placed in Glovo,” said Lamide Akinola, General Manager, Glovo Nigeria. “We are dedicated to delivering a seamless and convenient experience for our users while continuously expanding our network of partners and brands to provide an unmatched variety of offerings, and contribute to our local and pan-African growth.”

    During the event, Glovo recognised exceptional performances and presented awards to deserving partners and sales associates. These awards acknowledged excellence in various categories, highlighting remarkable accomplishments and the relentless pursuit of delivering exceptional services. Among the awards bestowed were Customer’s Favorite, Above and Beyond Recognition, Visionary, Rising Star, and Q-commerce Innovation, to name a few.

  • Feature: The necessary Agro-Processing centrepiece of Tinubu’s manufacturing policy

    Feature: The necessary Agro-Processing centrepiece of Tinubu’s manufacturing policy

    by Ayo Akinfe

    I hope that Tinubu’s agricultural plans are centred around developing farmers’ cooperatives and making agro-processing the centrepiece of his manufacturing policy

    [1] All of Nigeria’s 774 local government areas will be obliged by law to organise their farmers into cooperative units

    [2] Farmers will be encouraged to sell their produce, buy seedlings, pesticides and fertilisers, as well as farming equipment through these co-operatives to maximise efficiency and overhead costs

    [3] Every local government area must build at least one food storage facility within its domain. These facilities must be able to hold at least six months stock of food

    [4] An agricultural tax will be paid to the local government to help provide and maintain the necessary services to support farming programmes. Farmers will pay this tax when they harvest their crops

    [5] Agricultural cooperatives will be encouraged to move into value-added activities and will be provided with loans to facilitate this

    [6] A National Bank of Agriculture will be established to offer loans to farming cooperatives at maximum rates of 5%

    [7] Farmers will be encouraged to venture into organic agriculture because of the high premiums that this commands

    [8] Cooperatives will be encouraged to buy their members high-yielding hybrid seedlings to enhance unit-per-head output

    [9] Seed companies will be offered tax holidays to come and set up plants and facilities within Nigeria

    [10] Processing companies and food manufacturers like Cadbury, Nestle, Mars, Kelloggs, Tate & Lyle, Unilever etc, will be encouraged to establish plants in Nigeria to facilitate vertical integrated production. Our ultimate goal is to export finished, packaged and shelf-ready products to international markets. Tax holidays, 100 year land leases, duty waivers, etc, will all deployed to full effect

  • Fortune Football Academy claims victory at the Fourth edition Cohesion Football Tournament

    Fortune Football Academy claims victory at the Fourth edition Cohesion Football Tournament

    After two days of competitive football at the highest level, by children between the ages of 9-13, selected from various football academies in Lagos, Fortune Football Academy has emerged winners of the fourth edition of the Cohesion Football Tournament, an annual community tournament aimed at engaging talented grassroots children in the Surulere and Mushin local government area of Lagos state. The competition took place on December 15th and 16th 2022 at the Union Bank Stable, Surulere, Lagos State, Nigeria.

    Cohesion Football Tournament is targeted at the development of pre-teens in underserved communities between the ages of 9-13. It is aimed at equipping them with the core values, knowledge and skills needed to realise their full potential as leaders of the next generation. It is also designed to productively engage and steer them away from crime, substance abuse and other social vices. The two-day competition had 16 teams from various parts of Lagos state competing for the ultimate prize through a knock-out system.

    Nigerian Entertainer, Samuel Perry popularly known as ‘Broda Shaggi’ was present to kick off the tournament, and he charged the children to enjoy themselves and showcase their talent. ‘You can achieve anything you put your mind to, all you have to do is to continue working hard, believe in God, keep improving your skill every day and all your dreams will come true’. He said.

    After two days of scintillating dribbling, outstanding skills, ferocious shots, world-class saves and a couple of intense penalty shootouts, Fortune Football Academy was crowned champions of the 2022 edition.

    The winning team, Fortune Football Academy, walked home with the sum of N150,000 (One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira),  [Ablaze Football Academy] came second and won a sum of N100,000 (One Hundred Thousand Naira), in third place was [Ajibade Football Academy]who went home with the sum of N70,000 (Seventy Thousand Naira), and  the tournament’s most valuable player [Tobiloba Ashimi] was rewarded with a sum of N100,000 (One Hundred Thousand Naira).

    Speaking at the prize-giving ceremony during the grand finale, Damilare Obagbemi, Convener of the Cohesion Football Tournament, expressed his gratitude to all the partners and supporters of the initiative, while noting the impact the competition has had in the lives of pre-teens in Lagos since its inception.

    “It has been four years of impacting lives and making December memorable for many children across Lagos. I’m very proud of the work the team has done so far to provide a platform for these children to showcase their skills. I am also pleased with the progress we have made over the years, every edition has been bigger and better than the previous one. Coincidentally, this year’s competition fell during the same period as the 2022 Qatar World Cup, and I am glad we’ve been able to show these children that in a couple of years through hard work, dedication and discipline, they can also make it to the peak of their careers in football or anything they set to achieve in life,” he said.

    While presenting the trophy and prizes to the winning team and players, Adebola Williams, Chairman, AW Network, Founder RED For Africa said  ‘’I am so proud of all of you. You have been given the skill of football. My advice to you is that you hold it with discipline, commitment and passion, and it will open doors for you. Keep working hard and the world will be your oyster’’

    The 2022 edition of the Cohesion Football Tournament was proudly supported by Rite Foods, Dios Dlite, Olam, Nestle, Shuttlers, The Boys Brigade Aguda and Dano Milk.

    Media partners included: Olorisupergal Media, TheCable Newspaper, Femi and The Gang, and Nigeria Info. The official medical partner for the two-day tournament was Sports Assist, Nigeria’s first sports medicine company dedicated to improving health outcomes in professional and recreational sports.

  • Dangote Group Emerges ‘Overall Most Responsible Business’ at SERAS 2022 Sustainability Awards

    Dangote Group Emerges ‘Overall Most Responsible Business’ at SERAS 2022 Sustainability Awards

    … Cement, Sugar, Salt Units also bag individual awards

    Africa’s foremost conglomerate the Dangote Group won the coveted ‘ Overall Most Responsible Business’ Award, just as three of its subsidiaries clinched awards at the 16th edition of the Sustainability, Entrepreneurship and Responsibility Awards (SERAS) held at the Oriental Hotel, Lekki, Lagos.

    At the well-attended event, which drew stakeholders across the industrial sector who had earlier submitted a record 151 entries for awards in 26 categories, cement manufacturing giant Dangote Cement Plc won an award for ‘The Best Company in Reporting & Transparency’.

    Dangote Sugar Refinery (DSR), which participated in the SERAS for the first time in 2020, won the award of ‘Best Company in Food Security’, while Dangote Salt Plc also known as NASCON Plc won an award for the ‘Best Company in Gender Equality / Women Empowerment’, on a night which saw the Dangote Industries Limited cart away four prestigious awards.

    The awards won underline the Dangote Group’s corporate culture, which seeks to promote and embed sustainability across its various Business Units and pan-African operations, through alternative fuel usage, energy management systems, circular economy, waste management processes, women and youth empowerment, and social interaction with various host communities wherever the conglomerate operates.

    In another milestone showcased in the SERAS Awards event programme, Dangote Group and its philanthropic arm, Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF) were recognised among those participants who have featured at SERAS over the last 15 years, alongside other companies like Guinness Plc, Nigeria LNG Limited, Mobil, Airtel, Lafarge, Access Bank Plc, Glo Telecommunications, Zenith Bank Plc, Unilever, Nestle, Channels Television e.t.c.

    Group Chief Branding & Communications Officer, Dangote Industries Limited, Mr. Anthony Chiejina, reacting to the company’s remarkable performance at this year’s SERAS said: “DIL’s approach is focused on mainstreaming sustainable practices across the operations of the organisation. This underlines the importance that we attach to our people, communities and other key stakeholders.”

    The SERAS is Africa’s leading Sustainability and CSR Award. Since its inception in 2007, and up till 2019, the award has attracted over 1,242 from over 300 organisations. In the 2020 edition, 98 institutions participated from 7 African countries, including Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. This year, 93 organisations sent in entries from across Africa.

    In her address to welcome participants at the 2022 SERAS, Executive Director, TruCSR/The SERAS CSR Awards Africa, Mary Ephraim noted that, “CSR and sustainability have gone through their evolution. From philanthropy (the era of being back) to CSR (the era of giving back) to sustainability (the era of going back) and now to circularity (the era of bringing back).

    “The conversation before now had been about how we could leave a befitting world for our children to inherit. But at the moment, it is how we as parents can live so that our offspring get the opportunity to survive. This is why we chose the theme – Climate, Circularity and the Future of Sustainability: Bridging the SDGs Gap through Impact Investing”, she added.

  • Nestlé partners with Africa Food Prize to strengthen food security and climate change resilience

    Nestlé partners with Africa Food Prize to strengthen food security and climate change resilience

    Nestlé (www.Nestle.com) announced today that it is partnering with the Africa Food Prize to help accelerate the transformation of food systems in Africa, as a way of strengthening the continent’s food security and building greater climate change resilience.

    The Africa Food Prize awards USD 100,000 to individuals and institutions that are pioneering agricultural and food systems transformation in Africa. The Prize puts a spotlight on uniquely impactful agri-food initiatives and technological innovations that can be replicated across the continent to increase food security, spur economic growth and development, and eliminate hunger and poverty in Africa. The Africa Food Prize is hosted by AGRA, an African-led and Africa-based institution that puts smallholder farmers at the center of the continent’s growing economy by transforming agriculture from a solitary struggle to survive into farming as a business that thrives. AGRA is headquartered in Kenya and works in 15 African countries.

    This year, Dr. Eric Yirenkyi Danquah, a plant geneticist from Ghana, was awarded the prestigious prize during September’s AGRF Summit in Kigali, Rwanda. Dr. Danquah was celebrated for his outstanding expertise and leadership in establishing the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) and developing it into a world-class center for the education of plant breeders in Africa.

    Nestlé will contribute CHF 100,000 to the Africa Food Prize, which will be awarded in 2023. Part of the contribution will go to the main award and part to a special category focusing on innovations that advance regenerative food systems.

    Remy Ejel, Chief Executive Officer of Zone Asia, Oceania and Africa, Nestlé S.A. said, “Transforming agriculture to be more productive and sustainable is key to reducing hunger and improving livelihoods for the long term. We aim to support and amplify efforts that spearhead regenerative agriculture and food systems to enable better productivity, better nutrition and better incomes for people in Africa.”

    Commenting on the partnership, Dr Agnes Kalibata, President of AGRA said, “We are happy to be partnering with Nestlé to recognize Africa’s best in food systems. The Africa Food Prize is a great opportunity to shine a bright spotlight on Africa’s outstanding minds, giving the rest of us a chance to learn and replicate their good work that is moving us closer to sustainable, inclusive and resilient food systems and achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2 on Zero Hunger.”

    Nestlé’s partnership with the Africa Food Prize builds on its years-long work in Africa to improve the continent’s nutrition and agriculture. The company has taken great strides to expand access to affordable nutrition (http://bit.ly/3fSUIYb) in many communities, for example, by fortifying Maggi bouillon cubes with iron (http://bit.ly/3TkaZ63) in Central and West Africa. It is also pioneering regenerative dairy farming with the establishment of the first net zero dairy farm in Skimmelkran, South Africa (http://bit.ly/3EgXm3n).

    In early 2022, Nestlé launched an innovative income accelerator program (http://bit.ly/3G09EhG), aimed at addressing child labor risks and closing the living income gap for cocoa-farming communities in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. Recently, Nestlé announced an investment of CHF 1 billion by 2030 under the Nescafé Plan to transition to sustainable coffee farming, including in Côte d’Ivoire.

    Entries in the Africa Food Prize are evaluated by a judging committee comprising some of Africa’s greatest food system leaders. Winners are selected based on proven results and scalable efforts.

    Submissions for next year’s Africa Food Prize will be open from January 2023 and winners will be announced at the AGRF, Africa Food Systems Forum, in September.

  • Nestlé appoints Lisa Gibby as Chief Communications Officer

    Nestlé appoints Lisa Gibby as Chief Communications Officer

    European Business


    Home< INDUSTRIESF&B

    Nestlé appoints Lisa Gibby as Chief Communications Officer

    by Marie WeilSeptember 23, 2022A A

    The Nestlé Board of Directors has appointed Lisa Gibby as Deputy Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer and as a member of the Executive Board of Nestlé S.A., effective January 1, 2023. In her role, Lisa Gibby will oversee the company’s Corporate Communications function, including media relations, public affairs, corporate digital and content and employee engagement.

    Mark Schneider, Nestlé CEO, said: “Lisa has an outstanding communications track record at Nestlé, particularly in building corporate digital capabilities and deepening engagement with our diverse set of stakeholders. As a strategic, collaborative leader, Lisa’s unique set of skills and experiences will continue to advance our global communications and public affairs work in support of the business.”

    Lisa Gibby has led global Corporate Communications at Nestlé since July 2020. She previously served as Vice President of Corporate Communications for Nestlé’s U.S. operations. Before joining Nestlé in 2014, Lisa Gibby was director of global communications for The ONE Campaign, an anti-poverty advocacy organization cofounded by Bono. Previously, she held senior communications positions at AOL and HBO, as well as strategic communications firm Robinson, Lerer & Montgomery.

  • Feature: The Proposed Outlook of Nigeria’s International Trade Policy

    Feature: The Proposed Outlook of Nigeria’s International Trade Policy

    By Ayo Akinfe

    What Nigeria’s international trade policy should be in response to the current Russia-Ukraine conflict

    [1] Nigeria currently supplies the European Union [EU] with 14% of its gas requirements. We plan to increase this to 50% by 2023 and 75% by 2024

    [2] A fresh gas pipeline will be built linking the Bonny liquified natural gas terminal with London. It must be completed by January 2023

    [3] Nigerian maize output will be increased to 25m tonnes in 2023 from the current 11.6m tonnes. By the end of 2024, the output will be expanded to 40m tonnes to enable Nigeria to take over from Ukraine as the world’s fifth largest producer

    [4] Nigeria’s millet crop will be increased to 10m tonnes by 2024 from the current 5m tonnes

    [5] Nigeria’s sorghum crop will increase to 10m tonnes by 2023 from the current 7m tonnes

    [6] Nigeria’s cassava crop will be increased to 65m tonnes by 2024 from the current 47.4m tonnes

    [7] Gas companies who come to open plants in Nigeria employing at least 500 local staff will be given 10-year tax holidays

    [8] Cereal companies like Kellogg, Quaker Oats, Nestle, etc who open factories in Nigeria employing at least 500 local staff will be given five-year tax holidays

    [9] Animal feed compounders who open processing plants in Nigeria employing at least 500 local staff will be given a five-year tax holiday

    [10] International breweries who come to open plants in Nigeria using our raw materials and employing up to 500 staff will also be given five-year tax holidays

  • LiveBIc Clinches First Prize at MarkHack 1.0

    LiveBIc Clinches First Prize at MarkHack 1.0

    …as Eko Innovation Centre and GDM Group call for Technological Innovation to Disrupt Marketing Landscape

    In what has proven to be game changing and a first-of-its-kind in the Nigerian media and marketing space, winning innovations have emerged at the grand finale of the maiden edition of Nigeria’s first marketing and media Hackathon tagged ‘MarkHack 1.0’ organized by the Eko Innovation Centre in collaboration with GDM Group. 

    LiveBIc, which comprised Shadrach Akao and Ernest Ogbanefe emerged the overall winners from a list of 10 finalists involved in the pitch at the finals of the hackathon. LiveBIc won the star prize of $10,000 for developing a new platform for content creators to market and deliver their content.

    Sprayme clinched the second position and $4,000 prize money for innovating a new way for social gifting and content monetization; Reelbuzz emerged the third winner with $3,000 for creating an intuitive platform that helps brands connect and command higher brand loyalty; Innovatoras took the fourth position as well as $2,000 prize money for directing the leads for businesses and turning them to paying customers and Monify Cookies, fifth position with $1,000 for developing a browser tool that provides its users the ability to block all unsolicited ads and earn money from allowed ads.

    The winners and runners-up will also get working space at Eko Innovation Centre, while all ten (10) finalists will have access to join the EIC accelerator program and GITEX Global pitch event in Dubai. 

    Recall, that the best 10 teams with the most viable concepts went head-to-head at the finale for the $20,000 prize pool and an acceleration programme with up to $50K equity investment to get their products ready for the market among other benefits.

    Speaking on the initiative and what inspired it, Victor Afolabi, Founder, of Eko Innovation Centre, and Curator MarkHack 1.0 said, MarkHack 1.0 is a gathering of innovators, entrepreneurs, Policy makers, and Marketing Professionals, to create solutions to real-life Marketing challenges in an intense period of time. Using creativity, technology, and mentoring, resulting in prototypes, fresh new concepts, and innovative usages of tech for Marketing and Media. 

    He added that “Seeing how technology has disrupted global industries all over the world, we perceived that the marketing and media industry was ripe for disruption. However, they are two things, it is either we collaborate with stakeholders in the industry to create the disruption we anticipate or we allow disruption to happen to us, and we choose to do the former.”

    “The former involves working with over 100 organisations and representatives from the various organisations to co-create together and disrupt that which we anticipate. That co-creation gave birth to what we call MarkHack. We brought together experts in the industry across sectorial groups from clients, agencies, professionals, technology experts, venture capitalists, policy makers, regulators and we all came together to come to create the MarkHack,” he said.

    On his part, Hakeem Popoola Fahm, Commissioner of Science and Technology, Lagos State applauded the organizers for the laudable initiative and stated that it is a testament to the success of Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s commitment to making Lagos a smart city by digitalizing its operations and providing an enabling environment for technology innovations to be given birth to. He added that MarkHack 1.0 has shown that Marketers and media practitioners can digitalize operations and the state government would continue to support the ecosystem. 

    Similarly, the Special Adviser, Innovation and Technology to the Governor of Lagos State, Tubosun Alake said the government has been supporting various research works through Lagos State Science Research and Innovation Council (LASRIC) across multiple industries including the marketing industry and it won’t rest on its oars in actualizing the smart city agenda of the present administration. 

    Earlier in the programme, the President of the National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (NIMN), Idorenyen Enang while delivering his keynote address at the event urged marketers to continue to innovate, and know how to use their channels effectively. He had also emphasized that marketing is not merely about integrated marketing communication, adding that innovators require to follow laid-down principles of marketing. 

    Similarly, in a fireside chat, Franklin Ozekhome, CEO & Head of Growth, Identiture Africa; Seyi Tinubu, CEO/Chairman, Loatsad Promomedia; and Muyiwa Aleshinloye, Head of Marketing, Wakanow called on marketers to take advantage of technology to grow their brands as Metaverse, Artificial Intelligence, and others are being deployed to ease business operations. 

    The organizers of the event, Eko Innovation Centre and GDM Group revealed that over 500 individuals registered to participate in the hackathon from 72 locations, 5 countries (which includes Nigeria, California- USA, Kenya, Pakistan, and London), and 3 continents (Africa, Europe, and North America). 

    The participants were split into teams of 5 and were required to work together for 3 weeks, brainstorm, and come up with new concepts based on their areas of focus. They were also sub-grouped into 8 focus areas which include consumer experience, media consumption, consumer recruitment & interaction, trade & retail engagement, analytics and metrics, events marketing, media monetization, and content creation.

    Each team pitched their ideas to a respected Jury of experts in the subject matter, and the best 10 teams were picked by the Jurors before only five emerged winners at the grand finale. Overall, the hackathon had 21 Mentors, 30 Selection Jurors, 8 Speakers, and 8 Final Jurors who partook in the event and are the industry’s best with decades of experience in marketing, media, technology, and business management, and others.

    The winners were judged by professionals which include Steve Babaeko, CEO/Chief Creative Officer, X3M Ideas & President, Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria; Iquo Ukoh, Director, Board of Directors, Letshego Microfinance Bank Ltd; Uwem Uwemakpan, Cofounder of Ingressive Capital; Tolulope Tomori Adedeji, Marketing Director, Anheuser-Busch InBev; and Debola Williams, Group CEO at Red Africa. 

    Others are Joseph Agunbiade, Cofounder, BudgIt; Kayode Oladapo, Assistant Regional Manager for Zone AOA (Africa, Oceania, and Asia), Nestle; and Jide Sipe, Head, Marketing and Corporate Communication, Ecobank Nigeria. 

  • Ursula Burns appointed to the Board of IHS Towers

    Ursula Burns appointed to the Board of IHS Towers

    IHS Holding Limited (“IHS”), one of the largest independent owners, operators and developers of shared telecommunications infrastructure in the world, has announced the appointment of Ursula Burns to its Board of Directors, effective July 2020.

    Ms Burns, most recently Chief Executive Officer of VEON until March this year and Chair until 1 June this year, will join the IHS Board of Directors as a Non-Executive Independent Director from 1 July 2020. Ms Burns serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Exxon Mobil, Uber and Nestlé. In addition, she is a senior advisor to Teneo and provides leadership counsel to several community, educational and non-profit organizations including the Ford Foundation, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Corporation, the New York City Ballet and the Mayo Clinic among others. She served as Chair of the President’s Export Council from 2015 to 2016 after holding the position of Vice Chair from 2010 to 2015.

    During a prestigious career with Xerox, spanning over 35 years, Ms Burns joined the organization as a mechanical engineer before moving into management, taking on a number of strategic roles across the company. Ms Burns served as Xerox CEO from 2009 to 2016 and as Chair from 2010 to 2017.

    Sam Darwish, IHS Chairman and Group Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are delighted to welcome Ursula to the IHS Board. We look forward to the wealth of expertise, experience and insight that she will bring to IHS. Her advice and counsel will prove invaluable as we seek to pursue our strategic goals and firmly establish our position as one of the largest independent telecommunications infrastructure owners in the world. The Board and I would like to extend our warmest welcome to Ursula.”

    Ms Burns said of her appointment: “In what is a transformative period for the telecommunications industry, as we witness an unprecedented acceleration in the digitization of economies, I am excited to be joining IHS’s Board. I am looking forward to working with Sam, the Board and the management team as the organization seeks to expand its global footprint, bring increased connectivity to emerging markets, support mobile network operators with creative and robust infrastructure solutions, and help deliver the transition to new technologies.”