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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER •AUGUST 27, 2016
WITH
MARKET PLACE
OMOLABAKE FASHOGBON 08033621009
L-R: Chairman,Trade Promotion Board, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Chief Micheal Olawale -Cole; President, LCCI, Dr. Nike Akande; Minister of Communication Technology, Mr. Adebayo Shittu; Chairman, Association of Licenced Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria, Mr. Gbenga Adebayo; and President, Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria, Mr. Olushola Teniola, during LCCI’s stakeholders communications tax bill forum in Lagos recently
L-R: Assistant Director, ICT, Lagos State Government representing Mr. Olufemi Odubiyi; Lagos State Commissioner for Science & Technology,Adeyinka Sorungbe; Country Manager, OLX,Lola Masha and Chief Technology Officer, OLX Sub-Sahara Africa, Stephen Ballot ,during the commissioning of the OLX office in Ilupeju as part of their 4th Anniversary
Nigerian Company Joins $5.2Bn Pladis Organisation The Federal Government’s drive to diversify the economy and encourage local production and consumption, has received another boost with A&P Foods, the local manufacturer of McVitie’s and Haansbro products in Nigeria, joining pladis. A&P Foods is a subsidiary of the former United Biscuits, now pladis, a global biscuit and confectionery company which brings together Godiva Chocolatier, United Biscuits, Ulker and DeMet’s Candy Company. Formed in January 2016, pladis is the new global biscuit and confectionery company owned by Yildiz Holding, the largest food company in Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East & Africa. Named after the ‘Pleiades’ constellation, a group of seven stars visible from anywhere on earth, the new company brings internationally recognized brands Godiva, McVitie’s and Ulker together under one roof to form a $US5.2 billion business.
“Establishing pladis is the first step in realizing the long-term strategy of Yildiz Holding. We are bringing together some of the world’s best loved brands and combining their 350 years of experience to form a new family company. We will be a global leader in biscuits and confectionery, and bring ‘bites of happiness’ to every corner of the world,” comments Yildiz Holding Chairman, Murat Ulker. Company History Yildiz Holding started its journey as a family company when Ulker was established in 1944. In 1989, Ulker was brought under the roof of Yildiz Holding and in just over 70 years, the company has evolved from a local Istanbul biscuit maker into a global food group that reaches 4 billion consumers. In 2014, Yildiz Holding acquired United Biscuits (UB), a major British biscuits business
and owner of the McVitie’s brand, becoming one of the world’s largest biscuit manufacturers. With the acquisition of UB, the company also acquired A&P Foods, a UB subsidiary and manufacturer of the McVitie’s and Haansbro biscuits and confectionery in Nigeria. Strategy With 36 factories in 13 countries including Nigeria, pladis employs 26,000 people across the world and is led by a senior leadership team: Cem Karakas, CEO, and Ali Ulker, Vice Chairman of Yildiz Holding, focusing on innovation and quality. The company operates on a regional basis, with each region led by a local management team that is responsible for manufacturing and commercial activities of the full pladis brand portfolio. Ali Jaber, Managing Director of pladis’ Sub Saharan Africa region said, “Being part
ATCON: Communications MoveMe Redefines Online Business with Tax will Suppress TeleAdditional Services coms Market The Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria ( ATCON) has warned that Nigerian Telecommunication market may experience less boom and activeness if government succeeded in implementing the proposed nine per cent communication service tax. While the bill for the proposed tax had scaled first reading in the National Assembly, the telecommunications body urged government to drop the bill stating that the consequences would outweigh the expected gains. Highlighting the effect of the tax which seeks to impose additional charges on users of electronic communication services, President of ATCON, Olusola Teniola, noted that in economic sense, the action would affect the purchasing power of consumers and thus, reduce subscribers’ consumption of data and the length of time spent on voice calls; and in effect, dwindle the revenue that accrue to telecoms companies. Shedding more light, the telecommunication guru who described the proposed tax as not being investment friendly held that it would scare investment away from the sector and make it less attractive , since investor were encouraged by a friendly tax regime. He added that the tax, if eventually introduced would kill creativity and innovations in telecommunications business. “We consider the proposed tax bill unnecessary and prohibitive because operators in the sectors are already faced with multiplicity of taxation. Imposition of this bill could stifle innovation and creativity in the sector and this would automatically reverse the gains already made in the past decade. This might lead to increase in unemployment, decrease in revenue accruable to government which would heighten the county’s poverty level”, Teniola pointed.
MoveMe, an online and offline logistics firm, has berthed in Lagos with a mission to transform the landscape of businesses in Nigeria. The composite moving platform edges out its competitors with its premium service that delivers beyond moving of items alone to assisting customers with chores such as fixing and arranging of items, cleaning as well as carrying out Installations of all kinds. According to the firm’s Director of Operations, Tony Aka, the task of relocating could be stressful especially with its packing and unpacking process as well as the risk that goes with it such as loss or damage of valuables. “That is why we have introduced an impeccable system to make your home transition
affordable, safe, fast and reliable. The MoveMe concept was borne out of the need to make transition to a new abode stress free and worthwhile”, Aka explained. Aka noted that while the physical office was very much intact, the firm had also maintained an online platform, www.moveme.com.ng to make relocation easier such that individuals or organisations intending to move into a new apartment or office space could demand for their services anywhere with a tap on their internet connected device. Move-Me aims to serve as the best indigenous logistics company in Africa and hopes to diversify in the health verticals in the nearest future.
Airtel Targets Youth with New Product Like its Etisalat counterpart, Airtel is taking on the youth population as it announced the relaunch of Smart Trybe, a product which was originally launched in 2014. The repackaged offering is specially designed to cater for the needs and lifestyle of the youth market segment and offers affordable call and data tariff in addition to freebies that comes with it. At the colourful event that announced the product, those in attendance, majorly youths, commended the telecommunication company for its continuous empowerment effort through the provision of innovative telecommunication packages which had proven useful in realising their potentials and fulfilling their dreams. According to Airtel Vice President, Brand &Advertising, Enitan Denloye, the latest offered 11k/sec rate to all networks in Nigeria and it comes in three
categories. “These include :Trybe Special Data, Trybe Night Browsing and Trybe Weekend. Customers can dial *312# to connect to the package”, he explained. Denloye added that SmartTrybe aimed to enhance youth’s access to cheap data and call rates which comes with 1 gigabyte of data at N500 for 7 days, while subscribers on the Trybe Night Browsing get 500 megabytes data to browse between 12:00 am – 5:00 am with just N25, or they can recharge with N50 to browse from 12:00 am – 5:00 am with 1.5 gigabyte data. With Trybe Weekend, customers enjoy 250 megabytes as well as 30 minutes free call to Airtel numbers. At the launch of the product in Vapors Lounge, Victoria Island, Lagos, customers in attendance were treated to a live performance of Airtel brand ambassadors including Phyno, Patoranking, One Mic Star, Acetune and a host others
of pladis brings the opportunity to offer a wider range of brands and products, and further grow the business in the region.” With a firm belief in nurturing growth by building a sustainable flow of raw materials locally, pladis adds value to the lives of thousands of local workers. The company has developed some long term strategies aimed at helping it achieve its vision of growth in markets where it operates. Commenting on the vision for pladis, CEO, Cem Karakas, states, “We have significant growth ambitions for pladis with the aim to outperform the category standard year-on-year. This is supported by our capital position and the strength of our manufacturing as one of only two companies in the world that produce such a broad range of biscuits and confectionery. As one global family, we can be agile and innovate around our products, developing more brand synergies to benefit our business.”
Diamond Bank, Raises 500,000 Young Coders Nigeria’s fastest growing retail bank, Diamond Bank, has announced plans to engage no fewer than 500,000 children between seven and 15 years old in computer coding and technology development. This initiative followed the growing interest and use in technology which has also become a significant part of the society. According to the bank’s Managing Director, Uzoma Dozie, the bank would be partnering Code Camp Africa, a technology capacity development company, to carry out the project which aligns with its vision of empowering young Nigerians with the language of technology as well as its focus on developing homegrown talent across all fields. Dozie noted that, “The future of almost everything in modern days is technology and this also depends on the ability to use technology. The Western world is outsourcing jobs to India because of its ability to write code. It is paramount that we develop in this area of development.” He added that the bank collaborated with Code Camp Africa and programming firm, Andela Limited to deliver a five-week programme that equipped about 25 youngsters with knowledge and skills in various computer languages. “In 10 years’ time, these kids can work in Nigeria and across the world. It is critical that we equip these children with the ability to code and understand the language of technology”, he said. According to Code Camp Africa promoter, Mr. Edwin Momife, Nigeria had attained a level where her citizens needed to get to code and use technology to solve problems, adding, “If you learn how to code, you become a global citizen”.