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Nestlé Partners Africa Food Prize for Strengthened Food Security, Climate Change Resilience

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1 year ago

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Nestlé 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 in many communities, for example, by fortifying Maggi bouillon cubes with iron 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.

In early 2022, Nestlé launched an innovative income accelerator program, 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.

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Cooking Gas: FG Intervenes, Set to Crash Price

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4 days ago

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November 27, 2023

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The Federal government has intervened over the increasing price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), with the Minister of Petroleum (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, urging International Oil Companies (IOCs) and other producers to fulfill their domestic obligations before export.

At a meeting in Abuja, Ekpo told the producers that Nigeria has to find a way to surmount the challenges in the country’s domestic market, expressing President Bola Tinubu’s concerns over how unaffordable the product was becoming. The intervention is coming as the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its latest report said in October, LPG prices rose by as much as 14 per cent for a 12.5 kg cylinder.

But a statement by the minister’s media aide Louis Ibah, on Sunday, said the intervention on the LPG issue, better known as cooking gas, followed the rise in recent months in the price of the product per kg from about N700 to above N900 in some parts of the country.Key challenges identified as responsible for LPG price increase, Ekpo said, include FX sourcing for imports and insufficient supply to the domestic market by producers.

The meeting, at the instance of the minister, was held at the NNPC Towers and had in attendance top officials of Chevron Nigeria Limited led by Sansay Narasimi.Others included: The Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) led by its Chief Executive Officer, Farouk Ahmed and officials from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC).“Ekpo expressed the concerns of President Bola Tinubu over the astronomical increase in the price of cooking gas and the attendant hardship on majority of citizens,” the statement added.

The minister who noted that Nigeria is abundantly endowed with gas reserves, said the situation where some of the multinational firms were more concerned with gas exports without dedicating huge volumes for the domestic market was unacceptable and should be discouraged.

“With the exponential increase in the price of LPG, there is the need for the federal government to intervene and I am representing this at this moment. We acknowledge that some producers are exporting while we are faced with the challenges of importation.

“Public interest is the overriding interest all over the world for the government, the demand for LPG will increase as we approach December…you have a public service obligation to collaborate with the government to ensure security of gas supply.“We need to therefore bend backwards and find solutions, to ensure that we have sufficient supply and stability in-country and that Nigerians have gas,” said Ekpo.

The gas minister thereafter constituted a committee headed by the chief executive of NMDPRA with a mandate to come up with recommendations on how to boost supplies and crash LPG prices within a week.

However, the NBS in its latest report said the average retail price for refilling a 5kg cylinder of cooking gas increased by 8.89 per cent on a month-on-month basis from N4,189.96 recorded in September 2023 to N4,562.51 in October 2023.However, on a year-on-year basis, this increased by 1.76 per cent from N4,483.75 in October 2022, it added.On state profile analysis, Kano recorded the highest average price for refilling a 5kg of LPG, with N5,181.43, followed by Adamawa with N5,142.86, and Ogun with N5,093.75.

On the other hand, Ebonyi recorded the lowest price with N3,971.43, followed by Osun and Edo with N4,000.00 and N4,025.00 respectively.In addition, analysis by zone showed that the North-west recorded the highest average retail price for refilling a 5kg cylinder of LPG, with N4,738.20, followed by the North-central with N4,662.62, while the South-east recorded the lowest with N4,088.65.

Also, the average retail price for refilling a 12.5kg of cooking gas, increased by 14.04 per cent on a month-on-month basis from N9,247.40 in September 2023 to N10,545.87 in October 2023.

On a year-on-year basis, this rose by 4.93 per cent from N10,050.53 in October 2022. On state profile analysis, Edo recorded the highest average retail price for the refilling of a 12.5kg cylinder of cooking gas, with N12,536.88, followed by Jigawa with N12,050.00 and Delta with N11,987.50. Conversely, the lowest average price was recorded in Zamfara with N9,050.00, followed by Lagos and Oyo with N9,071.05 and N9,407.14 respectively.

Analysis by zone showed that the South-south recorded the highest average retail price for refilling a 12.5kg cylinder of cooking gas, with N11,480.60, followed by the North-central with N10,683.97, while the South-east recorded the lowest price with N9,847.42.

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Smartphone Festival: Glo Customers to Enjoy Six Months Data Bundle

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1 week ago

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November 23, 2023

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Courtesy of another season of its customer reward programme, Glo Smartphone Festival, Glo subscribers, are to enjoy free bundled data for the next six months.

The festival which is tagged “Gloworld Black Friday” runs between November 16 and 30.

Globacom, in a press statement issued in Lagos on Monday stated that subscribers who purchase selected smartphones from any of the Gloworld shops spread across the country will enjoy up to N150, 000 discount as well as 18GB of free data to browse and chat with family and loved ones.

“The festival provides an opportunity for all subscribers (prepaid and postpaid) to visit Gloworld shops to get the best price deals on any handset of their choice. Customers who buy Glo SIMs will also enjoy bonuses on airtime and data”. Globacom said.

The company therefore, called on its subscribers to make utmost use of the opportunity provided by the festival to buy any of the latest devices which come with the bundled benefits.

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Unity Bank Partners Cashtoken to Reward Customers with Millions of Naira

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1 week ago

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November 23, 2023

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Unity Bank Plc and Cashtoken, have announced a partnership to deploy a patronage reward product that will see the Bank’s customers winning millions of Naira in cash rewards, guaranteed instant cashback, and offer a life-changing opportunity.

Cashtoken is a Cash Reward-as-a-Service company that operates a loyalty programme designed to power customer engagement and improve customer satisfaction. For Unity Bank, the partnership offers it the opportunity to migrate customers – old and new, to a platform that will continually create exciting rewards and appreciation for loyalty.

To be part of this reward scheme, customers are to onboard onto any or all of the Unity Bank digital banking platforms including the Unifi mobile banking application, the *7799# USSD platform or activate their Unity Bank Verve Card and transact on any e-payment terminals across Nigeria.

Each card transaction, as well as the onboarding on the digital platform, earns customers a cash token, which can be redeemed instantly while qualifying the customer to enter the monthly Cashtoken Rewards draw to stand a chance of winning up to One Million Naira cash.

Speaking at the media launch in Lagos, Unity Bank’s Head of E-Business, Eghomware Iyamu said the collaboration with Cashtoken is meant to boost the ways in which Unity Bank customers are appreciated.

Iyamu said, “We are excited to announce this strategic partnership with Cashtoken which reinforces our commitment to recognizing and rewarding loyalty. Through this collaboration, we are taking customer appreciation to new heights, offering millions in cash rewards as a token of gratitude for choosing Unity Bank.”

He added: “This partnership will create an unparalleled experience for Unity Bank’s customers by leveraging the impressive reward platform built by Cashtoken Reward. This collaboration has therefore set the stage for an exciting journey of appreciation, as Unity Bank customers can now look forward to bountiful cash rewards, making every interaction with the bank a rewarding experience.”

The Bank believes that this initiative will not only reward existing customers but also attract new ones with a rewarding banking experience when they pick up and activate a Verve Card and transact on the Bank’s digital banking channels.

On its part, Cashtoken stated that the fulfillment of its mandate under the partnership allows it to create more excitement for customers, and an even greater bond among families and businesses by constantly rewarding patronage and loyalty.

It further stated the Unity Bank/Cashtoken partnership being launched will, from the outset, begin to deliver brand engagement and customer experience that will, in many ways, replicate loyalty rewards in cash prizes.

The partnership announcement comes on the heels of a similar partnership with the payment processor, Verve Card Services Limited which has seen Unity Bank customers, Nmeregini Chukwuebuka and Sharif Yusuf Mohd winning 500,000 and 150,000 naira respectively in the ongoing Verve National Consumer Promo.

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