Business Archives - Page 42 of 83

Heritage Bank, others bankroll SCOA handover of trucks, equipment to Julius Berger worth N15.5bn

R-L: Ralph Brendicke, Representative of the MD of Julius Berger Nigeria Plc; Mother Dan-Egwu, Regional Head, Lagos Mainland, Lagos Mainland Zone of Heritage Bank Plc; Engr. Amresh Shrivastava, Deputy CEO of SCOA Nigeria Plc and Federal Republic of Germany’s Head of Mission in Lagos, H.E Ambassador Dr. Von Munchoe-Pohl, during the Official Handover Ceremony of State-of-the-Art Man Trucks and Wirtgen Equipment to Julius Berger Nigeria Plc with Heritage Bank being one of the lead financiers, weekend in Lagos.

Heritage Bank Plc, Nigeria’s Most Innovative Banking Service provider and seven other banks have provided a total of N15.5billion to assist SCOA Nigeria Plc for the importation and supply of MAN Platform Trucks and equipment to Julius Berger Nigeria for construction of 380km Abuja-Kaduna-Kano roads and many others across the country.

Specifically, Heritage Bank availed SCOA Motors an Advance Payment Guarantee (APG) N4.64 billion for the project.

Whilst, other banks – Zenith, Wema, UBA, Union, Unity, Coronation and Providus Banks complemented the global total sum.

The sum total covers for 33 trucks and technological equipment. For the first phase during the ceremony, 16 of the trucks were handed over to Julius Berger and the second phase of delivering will be executed next month.

Commenting on the Official Handover Ceremony of State-of-the-Art Man Trucks and Wirtgen Equipment to Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, the MD/CEO of Heritage Bank Plc, Ifie Sekibo stated that the support efforts through project financing in the various sectors of the economy is one of the platforms that underscores our resolve and readiness to make a mark in the financial sector as a major pivot of socio-economic transformation of the country.

The Regional Head, Lagos Mainland Zone of Heritage Bank, Mother Dan-Egwu, who represented Sekibo, said the bank partnered to support SCOA Nigeria Plc for its long and outstanding presence in the automobile market, by retaining the cutting edge in their line of business.

Dan-Egwu disclosed that the Heritage Bank’s philosophy is to support businesses to grow in their discharge of duties; she was quoted as saying, “For us at Heritage Bank, our core business philosophy as a timeless wealth partner to our customers is captured in our mission to create, transfer and preserve wealth.”

According to her, the bank’s field of engagement of support has so far been diversified, covering economic sectors such as Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, agriculture, entertainment and arts, education, oil and gas, aviation and haulage as well as the public sector.

Earlier in his address, the GMD/CEO of SCOA, Dr. Massad Boulos commended Heritage Bank and the other banks’ roles, as the transactions were made possible through their solid partnership.

“I will also thank Heritage bank, their Directors, MD; Unity Bank and other senior bankers official & the entire team of banks, they’ve worked closely together with us on this project, same with Providus Bank, they all have worked together tirelessly for the success of this project,” he said.

R-L: Mother Dan-Egwu, Regional Head, Lagos Mainland, Lagos Mainland Zone of Heritage Bank Plc; Henry Agbamu, Chairman of SCOA Nigeria Plc; MD of Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, represented by Ralph Brendicke and GMD/CEO of SCOA Nigeria Plc, Dr. Massad Boulos, during the Official Handover Ceremony of State-of-the-Art Man Trucks and Wirtgen Equipment to Julius Berger Nigeria Plc with Heritage Bank being one of the lead financiers, weekend in Lagos.

According to him, this partnership is like no other considering the parties involved especially SCOA Motors and Julius Berger in the official hand over of state of the art modern trucks for use on the road constructions’ equipment for the execution of the biggest and the most significant project in Nigeria; the Abuja/Kaduna/Kano express way.

SCOA Motors Plc has been operating in the Nigeria Market since 1922. The company has over the years expanded from Automobiles to other lucrative ventures such as importation and assembling of Vehicles and Generating plants, Agriculture /Food processing.

ABUADTH’s Edge Over Others In Nigeria

ABUAD Teaching Hospital’s Edge Over Others In Nigeria

In this exclusive interview with a team of reporters, Dr. Akinola Akinmade, Deputy Chief Medical Director of the Afe Babalola University Teaching Hospital, ABUADTH, talks about Aare Afe Babalola, the founder’s commitment to attracting the world to Nigeria for excellent medical care through its well funded and well equipped Teaching Hospital

How did the process of this mega hospital start?

It started in April 2018. We have several innovations we have put in place to make sure we have seamless health delivery here in ABUADTH.
The first is the reception. You can get registered to access treatment, see a doctor, consultations. All these can be done electronically. We don’t have case files. We don’t give patient a card or make them sign a paper. Once you register here, your information will be available at all the service centers in the hospital.
And if you come back in 20 years, your information will be intact because we have the information stored in a backup cloud

Can you highlight the makeup of the different units?

We have six multifunctional dental chairs that can do a wild range of dental procedures.
You can do dental implants, from basic things like scaling and polishing and they are affordable.

Scaling and polishing can make your teeth whiter and nicer. These chairs can do a single tooth x-ray.
We also have the OPG machine that can do a panoramic view of the entire skull.

If you want to do a reconstruction surgery from the dental bones and things like that, you will do a reconstruction with the OPG first. We have six chairs, we have one dedicated for Paediatrics.

All the compressors are there, based on this, we have started a dental school here in ABUADTH and they are currently in 200 level going to 300 level and all the specialties are represented here.
We have done all sort of major dental surgeries.

We also have a machine that does the panoramic view of the head. This helps to have the overall view of the skull.

Ekiti does not have an airport. How can emergency cases get here for attention?

We have a helipad. That’s the Helipad. {Pointing to the direction}
The helicopter lands on it, the ambulance goes from here and there is a dedicated road for it, picks up the person and brings him or her straight to the emergency.

We have received several patients through the helipad.

Do you have equipment for Ears, Nose and Throat, ENT infection?

Yes, here in ABUADTH we have. This is the workstation, this is the piece of equipment, {Pointing at equipment}

If there are 100 procedures in ENT, this can do 90 percent. So the patients don’t have to go to the theater.
Once they are here, we can do most of the ENT procedures.

For instance, if a child puts an object in his or her ear, instead of going to the theater looking for it, you can remove all that here. We can remove stuff in the throat, ear and so on.
This equipment, (pointing at a piece of equipment) is a stand-alone piece of equipment. This is very expensive. We have two of them in case we have a lot of patients. But the equipment is very expensive.

Audiology

This is the audiology booth,{Pointing at the machine} for those who have hearing defects.
Patient can go in here and out on the head phones and they are tested for their range of hearing and all that.
We fix patients for hearing aide.

Eye

If patient has eye defects and has undertaken measurement, the glasses are cut immediately and in two hours it is ready.
We have the optician and once you have your records, they do the cutting for you and in two hours you can get your glasses. You don’t have to come back or wait for days.

Cardiac Arrest

If the patient can get here within six hours and gets on this machine (pointing at a machine) the patient has bright chances of recovery.
That is why the helicopter is very important. If there is an accident victim and there is a cardiac arrest at home and the patient gets to the hospital in six hours, the patient goes home the next day. We have received patients from Sokoto, Kano, Lagos anywhere. We have 3 of these.

Heart Surgery

We have an open-heart surgery centre. It is for those that need heart surgeries including deformity of the heart, hole in the heart, atrial septal defects, etc.
They need the theater. We have the machines. We actually have two other machines for backup. When the patient gets here, they open the chest because they cannot operate on a breathing heart.

But sometimes, we can. But we can’t operate while the blood is in there. The blood flows into the heart-lung machine. We paralyize the hearth and work on the heart. When it is completed, the blood flows back into the heart and the machine is used to bring back the heart.

It’s a form of electrical shock and the heart comes back to life.
Then you take the patient back to the ICU, we have done more than 100 since we started. We have someone who does this. He is an Indian and he is on the ground full time. It is very expensive to keep them.

How many theaters do you have in this teaching hospital?

We have 10 theaters and these are modular theaters will full equipment.

These equipment cost so much. But how can average income earners access these facilities?

Yes, you have a point. One of the problems we have in the country is the absence of medical insurance. If the government can make health insurance available to all, medical care will as well be available to all.

However, our founder has ensured that health care in this Teaching Hospital is affordable to all.

Why is this teaching hospital under-publicized?

In the medical profession, we don’t do adverts or any form of publicity. It’s against the regulations of the profession. People get to know we have this equipment here either by referral or when reporters visit hospitals like you are doing.

Which prominent Nigerians have visited this place?

Governors across the country have been here. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, ex President Goodluck Jonathan, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and many more have been here.

Has President Buhari been here?

No. He has not come but he sent a representative.

FIRSTBANK LAUNCHES LIT APP

FIRSTBANK LAUNCHES LIT APP, A REVOLUTIONARY MOBILE BANKING APPLICATION, REINFORCES ITS COMMITMENT TO PUT CUSTOMERS FIRST.

In furtherance of its commitment to spearhead value-driven mobile and digital banking in Nigeria, FirstBank of Nigeria Limited has announced the launch of the LIT Application, created to revolutionise the culture and experience of mobile banking in Nigeria.

The state-of-the-art banking app is the first of its kind in the industry, exposing customers to a wealth of opportunities to promote their safety, convenience whilst ensuring they are at an edge in today’s digital banking world. It is a mobile banking app developed and owned by the Bank and configured with a wide range of exciting features to meet the needs of its dynamic customers.

The FirstBank LIT application is not just about bills payment, funds transfer or airtime recharge, but also the app is equipped with several other exciting features that reiterate the Bank’s resolve to continually expand its digital architecture to modernise its interaction with customers, irrespective of where they may be across the world. These functions of the LIT app include: multiple transfers which allow customers to select several beneficiaries at once for a single transfer; account opening opportunities for non-customers as well as account management, enabling customers to identify their relationship managers for immediate assistance, should the need arise.

In addition, customers can generate bank statements with options to download as pdf or send an email whilst having receipts generated as far back as one wants. With the LIT app, customers are also able to log and manage their complaint(s) without having to visit the branch. The LIT app is not all about usage but rewards as users (customers) are rewarded for using the application.

Expressing his excitement, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan, CEO, FirstBank of Nigeria Limited said “the LIT App is designed to strengthen our commitment to our customers, ensuring the continued safety of their funds and providing them with access to renewed transformative and adaptable solutions especially in today’s digital world. Developing the application is essential to make certain that our customers have more ways to seamlessly interact with us. The LIT App is the latest addition to the Bank’s robust electronic banking family, with others being the multiple global award-winning FirstMobile, *894# USSD Banking, FirstOnline internet banking, WhatsApp chat banking, amongst many others.”

Naira ends losing streak against U.S dollar

After consecutive devaluation, the Naira posted a gain against the US dollar at both the official and unofficial market windows of the forex market on Tuesday.

According to abokiFX, Naira closed at N526.00 per $1 at the black market on a N1.00 or 0.20 percent appreciation from the N527.00 it exchanged hands on Monday.

But the local currency closed flat against the Pound Sterling at the black market at N715/£1 and appreciated by N4 against the Euro to N612/€1 from N616/€1.

Similarly, data posted on the FMDQ Security Exchange window where forex is officially traded showed that the naira closed at N411.08 per $1 at the official market on Tuesday.

This translates to a N0.55 or 0.13 percent rise from the N411.63 rate recorded in the previous session on Monday

A low turnover, which resulted in ease in pressure, was one of the reasons for the gains posted by the local currency yesterday at the market segment

The Forex turnover recorded at the market segment was pegged at $72.50 million against the $81.81 million achieved at the preceding session, indicating a $9.31 million or 11.4 per cent decrease in the market turnover.

Access Bank launches awareness campaign to combat E-banking fraud

As part of its continued commitment to educate and protect customers from e-banking fraud, Africa’s largest retail bank, Access Bank Plc, has launched an awareness campaign aimed at sensitizing customers on measures they can take to protect themselves.

The Access Bank campaign, themed ‘Banks Don’t Ask’, focuses on three key activities that account for most fraud incidents in Nigeria, phishing, SIM card fraud, ATM fraud and POS fraud.

From all indications, the rates of phishing, SIM card fraud, ATM fraud and POS fraud in the country has tripled in the past few years. Also, the sophistication with which these activities are carried out has evolved, resulting in unsuspecting customers being highly susceptible to these criminal activities.

Victor Etuokwu, ED Retail Banking Access Bank stated, “In the past few years, there has been a significant increase in the rate of internet-based and technology-perpetrated fraud”. He added “We want to ensure that our customers are not only protected but are also aware of the tactics employed by fraudsters. Access Bank will never request for personal banking information such as your 16-digit card number, password, PIN, BVN, CVV or One-Time Password (OTP). So, customers are also advised to never share this information with anyone even if they claim to be from the Bank”.

To report suspicious activities (phone calls, emails or text messages), customers can call Access Bank on 01- 2712005 or send a mail to contactcenter@accessbankplc.com. To prevent SIM card fraud in cases of lost or stolen devices, customers can simply *901*911# from any phone deactivate their USSD profile.

FIRSTBANK’S SPONSORED ”FIRST CLASS MATERIAL” CONTINUES TO EMPOWER AND CELEBRATE THE NIGERIAN YOUTH.

FirstBank of Nigeria Limited, Nigeria’s premier and leading financial services provider has again reinforced its commitment to Youth Empowerment and Entrepreneurship through its sponsorship of the docuseries ”First Class Material” from the stables of Linda Ikeji TV

Arguably Nigeria’s most valuable bank brand, FirstBank continues to pride itself as indeed the Bank of many firsts. First Class Material is a docuseries designed to celebrate Nigerians who are excelling in various fields of endeavour whether academic or non-academic. It is a programme that aims to chronicle the success stories of Nigerians who are distinct and exemplary in their achievements and importantly, a testament to the greatness of the West African country. This docuseries aims to make education, vocational training and skill acquisition trendy, attractive and fashionable to the nation’s human capital by celebrating and rewarding innovators and trailblazers in various sectors. First Class Material is a celebration of notable Firsts by Nigerians which underscores what FirstBank stands for. The essence of the programme is to have many more people informed and encouraged by the successes, thereby having these feats emulated in their chosen endeavours.

First Class Material aims to change the narrative about Nigeria and Nigerians by highlighting the great work Nigerians are doing in different fields, including Academics, Technology, Arts, Music, entrepreneurship, and many more. It also aims to inspire others to aspire to excellence and to see hard work, legitimate work, and diligence as something rewarding and deserving of emulation. FirstBank was the official sponsor of the maiden edition of First Class Material by Linda Ikeji TV and based on its success, the Bank is now also sponsoring Season 2 which will commence 3rd week in August.

This innovative partnership would have viewers exposed to Nigerians across the globe that have carved a niche for themselves by being exemplary and influential in their chosen endeavours and career path. Success stories of notable firsts and trailblazers would be highlighted, with viewers encouraged to go beyond limits and leave no stone unturned at making their dreams a reality. Like the first season, which showcased exceptional individuals, the forthcoming season promises to share truly inspiring stories of great feats and accomplishments by some of the most unassuming Nigerians, in the country and dotted around the world. FirstBank’s goal is to inspire the youth and encourage them to make informed choices, critical to securing their future whilst impacting mankind and society at large.

FirstBank, historically, has had diverse interventions in promoting thought leadership and promoting initiatives that will stimulate the advancement of skill acquisition and capacity building for the Nigerian Youth to equip them for a bright future. The Bank’s sponsorship of the Programme is in tandem with the noble objectives of the bank which includes building and instilling values into its customers. FirstBank’s core values of people, passion and partnership very much align with the vision of the First Material towards building the youth to become tomorrow’s leaders. With over 127 years of continuous banking operations, First Bank of Nigeria Limited (FirstBank) is giving a good account of itself in this regard not only as a true financial powerhouse but also as a life enabler, helping Nigerians live better and achieve their dreams.

Apart from the First Class Material initiative and in the furtherance of the Bank’s long term commitment to promote youth development, professional excellence and education, FirstBank has also in the past and currently actively supporting various activities and initiatives in the youth segment. The bank partners with Eventful Nigeria Ltd for Fashion Souk, a platform that creates an opportunity for players in the fashion industry to exhibit and sell their wares to the thousands of event participants. The bank, also in a bid to ensure the sustainability of the industry, recently introduced fashion design loans specifically designed to offer financial support to the participants in the textile industry.

Through its First@arts initiative, FirstBank consolidates all its efforts in the arts, supporting the entire value chain of the creative arts, providing much-needed financing and advisory support, showcasing and facilitating the successes of the industry, and enabling customers to explore and access the wealth of opportunities the creative industry has to offer.

Achieving these and a host of many others have been implemented through strategic partnerships with organisations like the British Council, Duke of Shomolu Productions, Live Theatre Lagos, Freedom Park, Terra Kulture, and the Cross Rivers State Government (Calabar Festival), among others.

With the sponsorship of similar socio-cultural initiatives in the creative arts industry like Moremi, Makaliki, Oba Esugbayi stage drama, October 1st (a movie), the Calabar Festival and the recently concluded, The Voice Nigeria (Season 3) the Bank remains exemplary to expose the youth to a wide range of opportunities that are integral to the realisation of their dreams, as they contribute to the continued socio-economic development of their immediate environment and the country at large.

Indeed, FirstBank remains a noble brand close to the heart of the youths and the deliberate efforts made by the bank has indeed been a catalyst of socio-economic growth of Nigerian youths and the nation as a whole.

Culled from Nairametrics

FIRSTBANK SPONSORS THE 5TH EDITION OF THE CHIEF OLUSEGUN OBASANJO GOLF TOURNAMENT

First Bank of Nigeria Limited has announced its sponsorship of the 5th edition of the Chief Olusegun Obasanjo golf tournament, organized by the Abeokuta golf club. The competition, which is scheduled to hold on Saturday, 14th August 2021 will have Chief Obasanjo perform the ceremonial Tee-off to the glamour of the 150 golfers participating from across Nigeria.

Speaking on the competition, Kola Adeneye, the Captain of the Abeokuta golf club, said; “Abeokuta golf club is putting up this tournament, fully sponsored by First Bank of Nigeria Limited to celebrate Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, whom we all know to be an icon, a patriotic Nigerian and an entrepreneur. He is worthy to be celebrated and it’s not only when somebody dies that you celebrate him.

“So, Abeokuta golf club has put this tournament together to celebrate him and this is the fifth edition and we want to sincerely thank FirstBank for the support… It’s going to be a wonderful experience, a nice outing for golfers all over Nigeria to come and celebrate Baba Olusegun Obasanjo”, the captain emphasised.

Highlighting the Bank’s contribution to sports development in Nigeria, Mr. Tunde Owolabi, FirstBank’s Group Executive, Retail Banking (Lagos & West) said “we are delighted to join The Abeokuta Golf Club to honour Chief Olusegun Obasanjo for the indelible roles he has played to the socio-economic and political development of the country. The Bank’s influence in the development of sports in Nigeria is under its First@Sport initiative.

“In over a century, FirstBank has sponsored various sporting events known as its legacy sport. These events include the Georgian Cup of Kaduna Polo Club, for over 100 years; the Dala Tennis Hard Court in Kano Club for over 30 years; the FirstBank Lagos Amateur Open Golf Championship in Ikoyi Club which will be in its 60th year this November and the Obasanjo Pro-Amateur tournament of Abeokuta Club now in its 5th year”, he concluded.

Nigeria Ranks 5th On World Bank’s Borrowers’ Highest Borrower’s List

Nigeria has been listed as the fifth-highest borrower from the World Bank Group and among the 10 highest debt risk exposure globally.

This is contained in a recent report which is the Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) financial statement of the International Development Association (IDA), a subsidiary of the World Bank.

Naija News reports that the country’s debt portfolio with the international financial institution currently stands at $11.7 billion (about N4.816 trillion).

According to the report, India is leading with $22bn debt, Bangladesh next with $18.1bn, Pakistan, $16.4bn, Vietnam, $14.1bn, and Nigeria occupies the 5th position with an $11.7bn debt.

African countries next to Nigeria are Ethiopia with $11.2bn, Kenya with $10.2bn, Tanzania with $8.3bn, Ghana with $5.6bn, and Uganda, $4.4bn.

“As of June 30, 2021, the 10 countries with the highest exposures accounted for 66% of IDA’s total exposure,” the World Bank noted.

The report also said $19.5bn loans would be disbursed to Nigeria, which includes $1.46bn loan approved but not yet signed, $6.61bn signed loan commitment, and $11.47bn outstanding loan.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government has condemned the reports classifying Nigeria as a high debt risk nation.

This was contained in a statement by the Debt Management Office in Abuja on Wednesday.

According to the DMO, the publications misrepresented the World Bank’s assessment report of the International Development Association audited financial statement for 2021.

FIRSTBANK IMPACTS ITS FIRSTMONIE AGENTS WITH A 100 BILLION NAIRA LOAN

The Bank has been at the forefront of promoting financial inclusion in the country, impacting Nigerians, regardless of their locations nationwide.
The Bank currently has over 120,000 Firstmonie Agents spread across 772 Local Government Areas in Nigeria
The Agent Credit scheme was launched a year ago to empower its Firstmonie Agents to grow their businesses, whilst being at an advantage to contribute to national development.

Barely a year after the launch of its Agent Credit scheme, FirstBank of Nigeria PLC, Nigeria’s leading financial inclusion services provider, has announced that it has economically empowered its Firstmonie Agents with the sum of N100 billion. The Bank currently has over 120,000 Firstmonie Agents, spread across 772 Local Government Areas in the country.

The Agent Credit scheme was created by the FirstBank to promote and expand the business activities of its foremost agent banking platform – Firstmonie Agents – whilst putting them at an advantage to positively impact their immediate environment.

Firstmonie Agents have been integral to bridging the financial exclusion gap, providing convenient banking services that are easily accessible, thereby saving time and travel costs for individuals in the suburbs and remote environments that have no access to financial services.

FirstBank’s financial inclusion activities are in line with the mandate of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to ensure the availability of affordable financial products and services to all individuals and groups of people in the country, irrespective of location, literacy levels, familiarity with technology and accessibility to modern infrastructural facilities. The Firstmonie Agent channel is amongst the Bank’s many initiatives to expand financial access in the country.

Reiterating the FirstBank’s role in deepening financial inclusion in the country, Chuma Ezirim, Group Executive, e-Business & Retail Products, said “we are truly excited about the tremendous impact of the Agent Credit on the performance of our Firstmonie Agents nationwide. Since the introduction of the Agent Credit to support our ‘Human ATMs’ as we fondly call our Firstmonie Agents, they have recorded immense growth in their businesses, at levels they never envisaged in such a short period.

Our key goal is to continue to deliver financial services to the underserved and unbanked populations, employing modern technology for processing real-time transactions and in doing so, contribute to building capacities and learning new skills in information technology, cash management and relationship management for our FirstMonie agents.

We encourage our Firstmonie Agents to keep being exemplary in setting the pace to promote financial inclusion as we collectively work towards the continuous growth and development of the national economy.”

Unveiling! How Government Allegedly Killed Oriental Foods for Dangote Takeover… His Interest in Dairy Industry may Force Peak Milk others out of Nigeria

Africa’s richest man Alhaji Aliko Dangote is without doubt a very influential man in Nigeria, his influence has seen governments formulate policies to accommodate his interest. It is therefore a regular and consistent occurrence for him to be accuse of using his acquired influence especially among the government to curry favorable advantage for him and his company to the disadvantages of others unfortunate to venture into a business he’s having interest, this has worked adversely as his alleged business interest was fingered as the reason a thriving business suddenly go bankrupt.

Sources revealed the whole issue stated in 2019 when the Group Executive Director of the Dangote Group, Engr. Mansur Ahmed announced during an African Development Bank (AfDB) Investment Forum for the New Special Agro-Processing Zones in Abuja that the company will be going into dairy farming and that the company will be going into large-scale dairy farming. Which invariably means Dangote Group will be rubbing shoulders with companies producing milk and other dairy products in the country.

This announcement the source revealed was just like the proverbial witch that howled the preceding night and a healthy child dying at day-break, as a couple of months after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) immediately in the first quarter of 2020 making a policy banning some companies from dairy product industry from importing milk, dairy products into the country with immediate effect. This brought in its wake the shutdown of Oriental Foods Ibadan the makers of ‘Luna Milk’ forcing the company to layoff its staffs and thereby adding more to the already huge unemployed Nigerians.

According to sources within the company the decision of the CBN means our employer and others that are excluded from the 5 companies that can still import can no longer compete in the dairy industry and thereby leading to the shutting down of the operations, though unconfirmed report says the said Oriental Foods has been acquired by the Dangote Group, thereby giving it the necessary equipment to launch its dairy lines anytime it so chose.

It is important to note that the Aliko Dangote led organisation has always being facing criticism for his ruthless use of government influence to crush competitors in nearly all the industry its operates, this industry watchers claimed is being put in motion when the Federal Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sabo Nanono at a press briefing to commemorate 2020 World Food Day celebration, said that any form of importation of milk and dairy products will be banned completely by 2022, a time sources claimed will have seen the promised Dangote dairy farm investment announced in 2019 reach its maturity stage since cattle growth to lactation take about 18months.

It is important to note that Aliko Dangote’s younger brother Sani who also serves as the Vice President of Dangote Group had at a time through his Dansa Group tried his hands on dairy business with his Ziza Milk, though all attempt by his elder brother controlled bigger company to acquire his products and production which includes Dansa Juice and Mowa waters was rebuffed, the new investment in the dairy industry may be a signal to relaunch Ziza and other dairy products.

Dangote Group has been at one time or the other at the receiving end of accusation of using unethical practices in their many running battles with companies in different sectors of the economy, they are at different times being accused of using government and its agencies to stifle competition, a practices that will be detrimental to the growth of national economy in the nearest future.

Most prominent among their fight for total dominance is the fight for market price control in the cement industry with the Abdul Samad Rabiu led BUA Cement, there has been accusations of sponsored attacks among the two over who controls the price of the product in the market.

The Africa’s Richest man’s company had also had silent battles in the past over dominance with companies in the sugar business against BUA Group, pasta and many more, his recent interest in the milk and dairy industry may be the death of more companies and a very long battle with others who had been in the industry as far back as independence.