Business
ECOWAS, Others Pledge Food Security In West Africa
The ECOWAS, EU and In
ternational Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), have assured that they will ensure sustained food supply in the West African sub-region.
The organisations pledged their commitments at a two-day Closing and Capitalisation Workshop of the EU Food Facility Programme in Abuja.
The EU launched a Food Facility Programme in December 2008, and made available 1 billion Euros to respond rapidly to food crises in developing countries over a three-year period.
Under this initiative, the regional IFAD-EU-ECOWAS Food Facility programme was established with a budget of 20 million Euros.
The regional programme covered five countries including Benin, Mali, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana.
The regional programme designed strategies to increase production of strategic crops (rice, cassava, yams and groundnuts and mineral fertilisers) to enhance food security.
Speaking with newsmen on the sidelines of the workshop, Mr Alan Munday, EU Head of Section, National and Regional Development Cooperation, said the regional programme was a success.
He said 96 per cent of the programme had been implemented.
Munday said the workshop was aimed at reviewing the Facility Programme and building on the successes and lesson learnt.
He said that stakeholders had the responsibility of ensuring that such lessons would be sustained throughout the sub-region and implemented in the different national policies.
“So far the success of the programme has been quite satisfactory given what it was meant to address, a crisis, given the size and given the differences across the region.
“The use of the resources made available to 96 per cent is quite a high level of use indeed which shows that much is being done.
“What we have to do, and this is the subject of this workshop, is ensure that that spending has delivered outputs which are sustainable for the region, for the individual member states within the member states who were beneficiaries from this programme.
“And from there see how this can be further built on, sustained throughout the region, through the regional organisation and the national authorities responsible and thereafter to expand it to those member states within the region who were not beneficiaries in this first phase.’’
He said the EU had made available instruments to address “spontaneous new serious crisis of food insufficiency” if the need be through its EU intervention office.
Munday said that with the next phase of the programme, the EU was committed to ensuring that the sub-region is “more self-reliant and self-resilient”.
He said: “the EU will make further funding available, and has already recruited a team of experts to work on design of a phase two in support of the regional objectives to take us further.”
Also speaking, IFAD Programme Coordinator, Adriane Del Torto, lauded the success of the Facility Programme, saying that IFAD was committed to implementing benefits of the project through its existing structures in member states.
“We have approximately 96 per cent of total implementation, we are quite proud of the results that we have achieved. IFAD will be basically implementing the project through its existing structures in member countries.
“IFAD’s main partner in development have been the grassroots organisations in all the 15 member countries; they are our main target group.’’
Dr Marc Atouga, ECOWAS Commissioner for Agriculture, said the EU Food facility Programme had created unique opportunities for the commission to address food security challenges in the sub-region.
Atouga said that the ECOWAS Commission was committed to “addressing the structural causes of food insecurity in the shortest possible time”.
“It is my resolve to ensure that we will continue to implement practical initiatives that will move West Africa from a food deficient region to a food sufficient region.”
He said that the commission would embark on the second phase of the of facility programme by 2013 which would include all 15 member states.
“One was a project on ECOWAS Agricultural Information System, executed by the ECOWAS Commission; the second was a programme on the promotion of good quality varieties of sorghum and millet done by ICRISAT, and the third one was done by five member states promoting good quality seed of groundnuts, maize, millet and also root and tuber crops.
“These projects have ended so we are meeting together to share experiences, lessons learnt, so that we can replicate them, use the lessons learnt to help influence policies and programmes in the region.
“There is going to be a successor project, which will start next year and consultants are on ground trying to put the next project together.
“For the next phase we are going to include all the 15-member states.’’
The ECOWAS Commissioner also called on participants at the meeting to critically review how to collectively address the challenges of food insecurity and poverty reduction in a practical and sustainable manner.
He said: “we must translate political decisions and directives into practical and action oriented activities that will continue to food security, enhance livelihood, and increase employment and income generating opportunities for our teeming population.”
Participants at the two-day workshop include representatives of EU, IFAD, ECOWAS and International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics.
The Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) says it has registered 160 Port stakeholders into its Regulated Port Service Provider and Users platform since the initiative began in 2023.
Executive Secretary, NSC, Mr Pius Akutah, made the disclosure on the sideline of a sensitisation programme by the commission for port operators in Lagos, with the theme, “Regulated Port Service Provider and Users”.
Represented by the Director, Consumer Affairs, Chief Cajetan Agu, Akutah emphasised the significance of the programme for stakeholders.
He said the sensitisation programme was the second edition after its commencement during the last quarter of 2023.
The Secretary said the 160 registered port operators consist of agencies, terminal operators, shipping companies, individual port users as well as service providers.
“We invited the ports stakeholders for enlightening them on the processes for online registration of Regulated Port Service Provider and Users.
“We have demonstrated to them how to register and how to make payment and we were able to present before them the various categories of the registration.
“The rate of payment is also in the registration. The payment of each group depends on the operation. A shipper pays N30,000, terminal operators and shipping companies pay N300,000, truckers also pay N30,000, while some pay N50,000 and N100,000.
“The Council was able to intimate them on the benefits, because port users benefit more as we help to interface on reducing port charges from time to time”, Akutah said.
He said that there was a need to continue to work with port operators to stop delays and eliminate high costs to make the port efficient.
Also speaking, the Deputy Director, Stakeholders, Service, NSC, Mr Celestine Akujobi, said “the sensitisation exercise was important for the council to enable us bring all the port stakeholders together”.
According to him, this is to avoid challenges during the implementation of the council’s responsibilities.
“By the time we introduce sanctions on defaulters, no operators will complain that he or she is not aware of the registration.
“I’m happy with the turnout of this sensitisation. This shows that the operators are well informed of the statutory friction of the council as the port regulator.
“The final implementation will commence as soon as we discover that all the operators have keyed into the portal.
“We are engaging other ports across the country and we’re hopeful that before the last quater of 2024, the council will implement sanctions on defaulting operators”, Akujobi said.
Earlier, Vice Chairman, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwards (NAGAFF), Dr Ifeanyi Emoh, said port challenges were enormous, adding that they originated from some of the government agencies.
Emoh urged the council to look into regulating other government agencies, so that there could be a window through which they can collect port charges collectively instead of indiscriminately.
By: Chinedu Wosu
Chivita| Hollandia (CHI Limited) leading fruit juice and value-added dairy manufacturer in Nigeria has rewarded its long standing distributors at the recently held 2024 Distributor Conference. The event with the theme, “Break Boundaries Exceed Expectations” served as a platform to recognise and reward the exceptional contribution of the distributors and wholesalers who play a critical role in Chivita|Hollandia (CHI Limited) success and business goals for the year.
The Distributor Conference was held in two sessions. While the morning session featured keynote addresses, industry insights and brand immersion experience, the evening session was a cultural display of elegance and funfair that culminated in the award presentation and recognition of the contribution the trade partners made to the company in the 2023 year under review.
A key highlight of the event was the award ceremony which acknowledged outstanding trade partners in various regions across the country. The awards recognized commitment, dedication, and outstanding performance in areas of sales growth, brand promotion, and market expansion.
Eelco Weber, Managing Director, Chivita|Hollandia (CHI Limited), stated that the company’s success story is incomplete without the strong partnerships it has built with trade partners. “Today, we celebrate not only the achievements, but the collaborative spirit that has made our growth possible” he said.
Bola Arotiowa, Chief Commercial Officer, Chivita|Hollandia (CHI Limited), in his statement revealed that, the event which was first of its kind will continue to be an annual meeting to enable the company work more closely with its distributors, share insights and action points, help the trade partners familiarize themselves with the company’s goals and objectives for each year, and serve as a driver for mutual success.
“Our distributors are the backbone of Chivita|Hollandia (CHI Limited). Their relentless efforts in distributing our products, promoting our brands, and expanding our reach across the nation is truly commendable. As the bridge between us and our valued consumers, it is very important to reward their hard work and dedication for being an essential part of the Chivita|Hollandia (CHI Limited) family. Together, we will continue to deliver great products to our conusmers which in turn will deliver value to them”, Mr. Arotiowa added.
Speaking at the conference, HajiyaBilikisuSaida, Chief Executive Officer of Smabirm Nigeria Limited, who won the Outstanding Distributor of the Year in North 1 region, and got a reward of two million Naira worth of Chivita|Hollandia (CHI Limited) products expressed delight at the company’s recognition, and stated that the awards served as a way to inspire distributors to do more and put in more effort, which in turn would help both the distributors and the company to grow.
Other outstanding performance distributors of the year rewarded with a two million Naira worth of Chivita|Hollandia (CHI Limited) stock include, Sunny Chuks Limited for East 1 region, MRS FA & Sons Limited for East 2 region, Hussakas Ventures for North 2 region, Rookee 1388 Ventures for Lagos 1 region, Pik N Pil Ventures for Lagos 2 region, FaithJoe Event Management Limited for West 1 region, and Progress Family Nigeria Enterprise for West 2 region.
The annual Distributors Conference aims to strengthen the bond between Chivita|Hollandia (CHI Limited) and its trade partners. This collaborative approach fosters mutual growth and ensures the continued success of the brands in the Nigerian market.
A global leader in insurance and asset management, AXA Mansard, has supported three female-owned MSMEs with business grants totaling 1.4 million to boost their operations.
This, the company said, is part of its commitment to women and the Medium, Small, and Medium-scale Enterprise (MSME) sector in the country.
The three businesses were successful at the International Women’s Day Pitch Competition, organised in partnership with SME 100 Africa in Lagos.
According to the Head of Marketing, AXA Mansard, Olusesan Ogunyooye, the competition, which is aimed at supporting female entrepreneurs in Nigeria, “is another way AXA is demonstrating its commitment to the causes of women and stimulating the MSME sector in Nigeria”.
The business pitch competition received numerous entries from women across different sectors, but after a rigorous selection process, shortlisted participants were selected to participate in the competition.
Ogunyooye said “the programme provided a unique opportunity for women from various works and socio-economic classes to showcase their innovative ideas and solutions in sectors such as food, tech, fashion, and fragrance, creating an atmosphere filled with excitement, enthusiasm, and a strong sense of community”.
He stressed the importance of investing in women, saying it is not just the right thing to do, but also aligns with AXA’s purpose of acting for human progress.
He explained that AXA believes the future of women should not be at risk, hence investing in their economic empowerment is a crucial part
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