Connect with us

BUSINESS

Heritage Bank Registers Farmers In 14 States With LCFE For N41bn Wheat Disbursement Project

Published

on

Heritage Bank Plc in partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria has set up plans to disburse a whopping sum of N41billion to farmers from 14 states for the expansion of the wheat production project.

The Bank, however, will register the wheat farmers with the Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange (LCFE) for successful disbursement, as the farmers are expected to cover about 111, 025 Hectares of land to attain huge milestones in wheat production.

Meanwhile, being the pioneer Bank to finance the first-ever large scale rain-fed wheat production in Nigeria and also a participating financial institution (PFI) under CBN’s Anchor Borrowers’ Programme scheme, Heritage Bank has taken adequate steps to create an enabling environment for sustainable growth in wheat production; thereby partnering with LCFE for all value-chain stakeholders to interact and trade ownership titles to specific quantities of wheat by registering members for their clients on the commodity exchange platform.

Speaking at the media briefing engagement with the pressmen, the MD/CEO of Heritage Bank, Ifie Sekibo stated that the partnership is basically to consummate Wheat Seed Multiplication Project under the CBN’s Brown Revolution Initiative, in order to ensure due diligence on loan administration, monitoring, and recovery, which would bring about increase in the domestic production of wheat and close the wide supply gap in the Nigerian agricultural space.

Narrating some of the feats achieved, Sekibo who was represented by the Divisional Head, Agribusiness, Natural Resources & Project Development, Heritage Bank, Olugbenga Awe said that as a bank it partnered with CBN to ensure wheat planting on wet and dry seasons.

What we want to achieve is to end the importation of seeds and make Nigeria self-sufficient in wheat production.

“We are working with about 30 firms focusing only on seed production and also working with CBN to make sure we register all farmers. We believe working with LCFE will move Nigerian farmers from an informal approach to a structured approach”, he said.

He further explained that whilst riding on the success of the wet season, “we decided to focus on the dry season which comes naturally to our people. As a bank, we are working on two things; one is to ensure the continuous multiplication of seeds and the other is to focus on the grains.

Sekibo affirmed that the scheme would help reduce the nation’s food import bill by increasing wheat production, creating market linkages between smallholders farmers and Anchors/Processors, creating an ecosystem that drives value chain financing, improving access to credit by the smallholder farmers by developing credit history through the scheme and many more.

Former Executive Director of Lake Chad Research Institute (LCRI), Dr. Oluwasina Olabanji commended Heritage Bank for its efforts in reducing wheat importation and saving the country from the $2 billion spent annually on the importation of wheat.

He called on other banks to emulate the lender in efforts to achieve wheat sufficiency in the country.

 “If this money is saved it could be used for infrastructural development. It is true that there are a lot of linkages not only on financial institutions but also in the value chain, these linkages have been molded together with the intervention of Central Bank of Nigeria and Heritage Bank,” he said.

He explained that the CBN and Heritage Bank’s intervention has become critical due to the high demand for wheat in Nigeria and the inability to meet that demand.

Speaking also, the Managing Director, LCFE, Akinsola Akeredolu-Ale, commended the CBN and Heritage Bank for their support, which have leveraged Nigeria to be on the right track for self-sufficiency in food production.

He said the commodity exchange in partnership with Heritage Bank would provide an enabling environment for farmers, warehouse owners, commodity middlemen, and commodity merchants, to be able to trade Wheat.

He noted that LCFE has created a platform that enhances liquidity in the commodity market, enhances the revenue base of the country, and enables commodity traders to manage risk.

BIG STORY

Sustained Growth: Transcorp Plc Delivers Strong Performance As Revenue Rises By 21%

Published

on

Transnational Corporation Plc (Transcorp) has released its financial results for the full year ended December 31, 2022, demonstrating significant improvements in its major income lines. The conglomerate with investments in the Hospitality, Power, and Oil & Gas sectors, recorded growth in its profit before tax, which rose by 8% to N30.3 billion compared to N27.9 billion in December 2021.

The conglomerate saw a 7% increase in its Power investments, despite the challenges faced in the year from the issues with gas supply, off the diminished Oil & Gas production in the country in 2022. The hospitality sector showed a very strong performance, achieving a record revenue of 31.4 billion and profit before tax of N4.5billion. These achievements have been made within a challenging operating environment characterized by foreign exchange volatility, high cost of production and rising inflation.

It’s worth noting that the Group’s total revenue and operating profit also experienced significant growth, rising by 21% from N111.2 billion in December 2021 to N134.7 billion in the period under review, and from N38.5 billion in December 2021 to N46.7 billion in December 2022, respectively. Operating expenses for the year ended December 2022 stood at N23.4 billion, representing an increase of 24% compared to N18.8 billion recorded in the same period of 2021.

The results showed that total assets increased by 6% from N416 billion in December 2021 to N442.7 billion in December 2022, primarily due to additional investment in the recovery of the power plants and investment in financial assets. Shareholders’ Funds rose to N154.8 billion, representing a 6% year-on-year increase from N146.3 billion recorded in the same period of 2021.

Commenting on the results, the President/Group Chief Executive Officer, Dr. (Mrs.) Owen Omogiafo attributed the success of the results to the robustness of the company’s business model, which remains prudent and nimble across its operations. She said “As we reflect on our achievements, we take pride in the improved performance of our Group. Looking to the future, we will continue to focus on efficiency and cost optimisation, ensuring that we remain agile and responsive to the market while delivering value to our stakeholders.”

Transcorp remains committed to its transformation agenda whilst sustaining growth and a continuous drive to deliver long-term value to its shareholders.

 

About Transnational Corporation Plc

Transnational Corporation Plc (Transcorp Group) is a publicly quoted Conglomerate, with a shareholder base of approximately 300,000. Our portfolio comprises strategic investments in the power, hospitality, and oil and gas sectors. Our businesses include Transcorp Hilton Abuja, Transcorp Hotels Calabar, Transcorp Power, Transafam Power, and Transcorp Energy.

Visit www.transcorpgroup.com for more.

Continue Reading

BIG STORY

Lagos Residents Stranded As Bus Drivers Protest ‘Extortions’ By MC Oluomo Team

Published

on

Residents were, on Wednesday morning, stranded in several parts of Lagos as Danfo drivers protested against exorbitant fees being collected by officials of the Lagos State Park and Gardens Management Committee headed by Musiliu Akinsanya popularly known as MC Oluomo.

The protest, which started at the Toll Gate end of the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway, was fast spreading to other parts of Lagos State.

Commuters were seen trekking long distances to their various destinations as the bus drivers refused to operate, citing extortions and alleged brutality by the state-backed officials.

It was gathered that the bus drivers and their assistants were seen carrying various placards protesting against the alleged extortion.

The inscriptions on the placards read, “we are tired of Agberos extortion”, “we can’t continue working for Agberos”, “we pay over N25,000 daily to agberos extortion”, “Extortion killing us,” among others.

One of the drivers, Musiliu Onafowokan, said extortion by Agberos was killing drivers in Lagos as their profit margin was being eroded on a daily basis.

Onafowokan said, “As drivers, we can’t meet daily responsibilities anymore, we pay so much to agberos on a daily basis and we can’t make ends meet again. We can’t meet our responsibilities at home as well.

“Our children can’t go to school anymore, we are working for the agberos. They destroy our vehicles if we don’t pay on time, it’s better government does something about it so fast because we won’t stop protesting until something is done.”

Also speaking, Sikiru Mustapha urged the government of Lagos State to stop the extortion of drivers in the state.

He said the activities of Agberos-led Musiliu Akinsanya known as MC Oluomo should be called to order.

His words, “The burden on us is too much. We pay through our noses on daily basis. If the government refuses to see to this hardship, we won’t stop protesting. They use their touts to disturb us, they threaten our investment, and we are at their mercy on a daily basis.

“They collect money from us from all bus stops. The suffering is too much, we can’t continue like this. We can’t be working and be like beggars.”

Continue Reading

BIG STORY

Petrol Price Should Be N400 Per Litre After Subsidy Removal — PENGASSAN

Published

on

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) says the pump price of premium motor spirit (PMS), also called petrol, should be between N360 and N400 a litre, after the removal of subsidy.

Festus Osifo, president of PENGASSAN, made this known while speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the association’s national executive council (NEC) meeting, in Abuja on Tuesday.

The federal government has projected to spend N3.35 trillion on petrol subsidy (which may be removed by June) this year.

Speaking on the matter, Osifo said the price of the product, after subsidy is scrapped, will be determined by the official foreign exchange rate, sourced by Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited for petrol importation.

“Today, the sole importer of PMS into Nigeria is the NNPC. The NNPC is using an exchange rate of the CBN which gives about N400 to N450 depending on the day and depending on the window that you are looking at. So, if you compute that into the model today, PMS should be selling for a region of about N360 to N400 [a litre],” Osifo said.

The PENGASSAN president said the association has compelled all of its organs across the country to make petrol available to Nigerians and has threatened to revoke the licences of any member found to be hoarding petrol.

Osifo added that functional local refineries will not only lower the price of petrol but also create jobs for Nigerians.

“While maintaining our support for the full deregulation of the sector and the significant milestone achieved in this regard, we counsel that efforts be made to increase the pace of the current rehabilitation exercise of refineries and get them back on track in due time,” he said.

Osifo said the incoming administration must address the currency swap as well as sporadic fuel scarcity across the country, while palliatives must be made available to Nigerians to mitigate the impact of the petrol subsidy removal.

Continue Reading

Most Popular