Category: Business & Economy

Access Bank wins ‘Africa’s Best Bank Transformation’ in the Euromoney 2016 Awards for Excellence

Nigerian automobile designer Olufemi Odeleye spends nearly 10 years developing the prototype for a low-cost, multipurpose, mini tractor called Tryctor – created with the Nigerian, and African, small-scale farmer in mind

MinCommerce Solutions Limited (MIN) has launched Nigeria’s foremost indigenous online marketplace www.min.ng, which is primarily focused on indigenous products and businesses.

The indigenous online marketplace, which was launched in Lagos, would enable Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) operators of made in Nigeria products sell and market their goods and services to a wider audience both locally and internationally.

Continue reading MinCommerce Solutions Limited (MIN) Launches Indigenous Online Marketplace

The Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Segun Agbaje has bagged African Banker of the year at the 2016 African Banker Awards held in Lusaka, Zambia.

According to the Bank, the African Banker Awards is internationally recognized as the landmark finance event to reward achievements, commend best practices and celebrate excellence in African banking industry.

The African Banker awards provides a platform to bring together industry leaders from across Africa and celebrate the achievements of those driving economic growth in Africa.

Ellae Creative Design Agency win Gold at The 2016 Transform Brand Awards for the Best visual identity from the education sector for Brand Identity Design work delivered for one of its Nigerian Educational sector clients

Mahmood Ahmadu received the Nigerian Economic Development Award in recognition of his efforts and success in developing one of Africa’s leading technology companies and successfully operating his business in over 17 international locations across 10 different time zones.

The award was presented at the international conference of the International Strategic Alliance Committee (ISAC) held on the 4th and 5th of April 2016 at the Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre in Westminster, London.

The special conference titled the Nigerian Mining & Agriculture Investment Summit, attracted high level local and international investors and business people interested in the hugely untapped opportunity in Nigeria’s mining and agriculture sector which is attracting much interest at the moment as the country seeks to diversify from its traditional dependency on oil.

At the conclusion of the very well attended conference, ISAC hosted a glittering Gala Dinner to celebrate and honour some outstanding individuals for their contribution to national development amongst them was entrepreneur and businessman Mahmood Ahmadu.

Ahmadu’s Nigerian Economic Development Award was presented by the Israeli Deputy Ambassador to the UK, Mr EitanNa’eh.

Professor Pat Egbule, a lecturer at the Delta State University, Abraka, has developed a youth-based agricultural model, which is designed to guarantee food sufficiency and address the high unemployment rate in the country.

Presenting the model at the inaugural lecture in Abraka, titled “Farms Without Youths: Making Gamblers the Career Farmers,” Pat Egbule urged state governments to apply the model in moping up those he called ‘gamblers’ from the streets.

The model, which he called Dual Approach to Training and Commercial Agricultural Production (DATCAP), and Schools Farm Programme (SFP), becomes imperative in the face of rising population, which makes food security more important to us as a nation now, than ever before.

He said farming has been hampered by severe shortage of new recruits, and will require new entrants over the next decade, to overcome the challenges.

According to him, Nigeria’s food import bill has been exceptionally high, consuming about 1.3 trillion Naira in foreign exchange yearly. He cautioned that if this trend continues, the availability of food in the near future will be more compromised, and Nigeria will be more vulnerable to external influences and other exogenous shocks that may have negative impacts on food production.

Professor Pat Egbule identified the significant increase in the prices of food, arising from low local production, internal conflicts, such as Boko Haram insurgency, and the dwindling oil revenues, as necessitating the participation of youths in any sustainable effort to boost food production.

Egbule posited that the youths hold the key to the sector, if mobilised through agricultural education, youth employment in agriculture and industrial development.

He also stressed that, apart from helping in reducing the problems of ageing farm population, youth economic empowerment through active career choice in agriculture, food production remains the major solution that is germane to youth problems and food insecurity in the country.

Egbule argued that food is man’s basic need and is central to human survival and productivity, adding that the nation’s food needs have to be met before those of security, social recognition and self-actualisation.

He recommended that all institutions offering agricultural education programmes to adopt the model, which he said could increase food production by about 30%.

The don said his years of studies of the subject led to the conclusion that agricultural education and food production are in a state of transition.

He said,

“The maxim that youths are the leaders of tomorrow applies more to agriculture,’ adding that ‘the youthful zeal, energy, strength and industry which are the universal characteristics of youths, are needed to galvanize agricultural production processes for improved productivity.”