T H I S D AY •THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2016
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BUSINESSWORLD
CONSUMER
Young Entrepreneur Launches Confectionery in Port Harcourt STories by Raheem Akingbolu Sweet Tooth Confectioneries has opened in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. At the launch, the shop dished out unique product offerings such as frozen desserts and pastries to its new customers, who received the products with tremendous enthusiasm. Located at GRA Phase 1, in the heart of city, the confectionery hopes to attract the urban, trendy and upwardly mobile Nigerians with its two complementary brands – Sweet Tooth Desserts & Pastries and The Corner Store Café. Speaking after the opening, the Chief Executive Officer of Sweet Tooth Confectioneries, Mrs.Tejumola Arigbodi, said her desire to establish the outfit was to have a competitive brand, a truly Nigeria brand that would appeal to the sweet tooth in every individual. “Sweet Tooth is actually a combination of everything sweet. We have the frozen desserts and pastries. By frozen desserts I mean gelato, artisanal iced cakes made with carefully selected ingredients and also frozen yoghurt. We also have our baked section with all kinds of cakes and not forgetting our candies,” she stated. “One thing I know is that everyone has a sweet tooth no matter how much we want to adhere to medical instructions, once in a while you want to indulge. Therefore as a company we are not saying that we have a target market, rather everyone is our target and our prospective customer, particularly as the Christmas celebration approaches. Essentially as a company, we aim to give you the very best
and as mentioned earlier, we don’t want you to go abroad again, we don’t want you to see these things on television and just keep wishing when it will happen in Nigeria, it is happening now,” she added. According to her, the business began with modest dreams. “The outfit started as just a candy shop and because I am a lover of children. If not for anything else, this business started on the fact that I wanted children to always have something to remember because their childhood memories will always stay with them. And from there I thought, oh some ice cream would be nice, and some cake and later I said okay, the fathers and the mothers will like to have something as well, they won`t stay at the candy shop without something to do so I conceived the idea of having a coffee or tea shop, where they could relax while they wait for their kids,” she said. She said starting a business such as the Sweet Tooth Confectionary, which took four years to bring to life, demanded an intense entrepreneurial drive. She said: “I grew up in Lagos and I guess I have always been an entrepreneur. I classify myself as more of a service provider. For me I have always loved food and hospitality. I started with a catering company and I saw the need to actually provide more than just the basic Nigerian meals and all of that. So I conceived this dream four years ago. I started educating myself through trainings abroad and here in Nigeria. I started aiming to be the best and getting to know what to do and putting the right things into what we have today.” Explaining why it took
A leading health maintenance organisations (HMO),Total Health Trust Limited (THT), is supporting The Bricon Foundation, a recently launched non-profit organization to drive the movement for the reduction of cancer incidences in Nigeria. The Bricon Foundation, co-founded by Abigail SimonHart and Dr Niyi Adekeye , is seeking to support patients and their families struggling with cancer through providing counseling, education, advocacy, free prosthesis and mastectomy products as well as assistance with sourcing funds for treatment. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that over 100,000 Nigerians are diagnosed with cancer yearly and of that number a staggering 80 per cent die of the disease. Cancer indiscriminately affects at least two million people in Nigeria and the impact of the disease on families and communities is immense. Nigeria is ranked as the country with the highest cancer death rate in Africa. To drive the movement for the reduction of cancer
incidences in Nigeria, and as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme for 2016, THT and The Bricon Foundation are partnering. The Bricon Foundation hosted a fund raising event tagged, “Keeping Hope Alive” recently in Lagos, where Abigail Simon-Hart, who is also a cancer survivor discussed the need for broader support for those diagnosed. She said: “Early detection of cancer is not enough, instead, we need to build the necessary support structures that assure patients quality of life and that cancer is NOT a death sentence.” The Chief Executive Officer of THT, Mr. Nick Zaranyika commended the founders of the Bricon Foundation for the sterling work they are doing in caring for those in need of assistance. He further stated that THT, as a leading player in health insurance and whose flagship plans provide cover for major healthcare such as cancer treatment, organ transplants and kidney dialysis provided material and financial support for the event and towards the care of cancer patients.
her four years for her dream to come to fruition, she said it was due to the harsh and unpredictable economic realities of Nigeria. “To be honest, doing business in Nigeria is very hard. Aside from the cost of dollar, you have to source your own electricity, security, you have rent to worry about and then you also provide your raw materials. So far, to be honest, the dollar is not doing justice to any business in Nigeria because we do not manufacture anything in Nigeria, so it is really hard, that is why it has taken us this
long. For a company that is starting in the United States of America or England, they probably would have started sooner than I did. For me, it has taken longer because each day you wake up to rising dollar cost and it’s almost like nothing is being done about it which is quite sad,” she said. Arigbodi noted that the peculiarity of Port Harcourt is her major motivation to site the business in the city despite the seeming challenging operational environment. “Port Harcourt is a very
peculiar market. I will almost say it’s a virgin land. I have been in Port Harcourt for quite a number of years, I have also visited other cities and I, as much as other people, have a lot to say about the city. I have looked at the positive and negative aspects of Port Harcourt and that’s why I decided to give it a shot. If you look at the negative, you probably would not do anything. I’m hoping for the best, I’m also positive because I know Port Harcourt will not disappoint. They are ready for this; Port Harcourt is ready
for this,” she said. On his part, an elated Chairman of the company, Richardson Arigbodi, expressed joy and thanks to God for granting they grace to nurture the dream to fruition. He acknowledged that it has not been easy getting to realise this dream and opening shop. He said having gotten to this level, the company can only grow stronger, adding that the company’s target is to go beyond the Port Harcourt branch, dominate the SouthSouth region and grow into an international brand.
PROMOTING AGRICULTURE
R-L: Minister of State for Agriculture, Heineken Lokpobiri; Divisional Head, Project and Development Finance, Heritage Bank Plc, Dele Faseemo and the Chairman, Triton Group, Ashin Samtani, during a tour of Triton Aqua Africa farm sites at Gambari Town in Oyo State… recently.
Expert Urges Rotary Club to Budget Allocation: Senate Agrees Prioritize Marketing, Youth with APCON on Increase Total Health Trust Supports Involvement Things may look up for the issue, especially as it concerns the Advertising Practitioners Coun- withheld allocation of the council to make good advantage Bricon Foundation to Fight Members of Rotary Club of Club cil of Nigeria (APCON), in the and possibility of reviewing the Lagos have been urged to of the opportunity by partnerCancer area of funding if the Senate current status of its funding,” find ways of attracting the ing to achieve its objectives. youth in their quest to serve humanity. While speaking at the annual President’s dinner programme organised by the club in Lagos, the guest speaker, Mr.Richie Dayo Johnson, who spoke on the theme: “Creating Synergy between the Media and the Social Sector for Economic Development” said time had come for the club to rethink its approach in the way it engages with the media saying that no one deserves to celebrate its milestone other than themselves. He said: “You need to blow your trumpet. There is a lot that rotary club can do if younger people are allowed to take the stage. We need to get out of the old ways. As a matter of urgency, we need to rethink our engagement with the media. The Club must redesign its communication so that the children can be more interested. We have got to do things differently. We have got to bring children into the organization by finding out what interests them, “ Johnson, who was once a media personality for a number of years, underscored the important role the media industry has played even as he tasked members of the
He said: “I can tell you that the media is ready to help. So, share whatever you have with them, tell them what outcome you would expect and be assured you will achieve it. We need to embrace the media, they will readily help you.” While charging members to rise up to the leadership challenge plaguing the nation, Johnson noted that members cannot afford to fold their arms while the country continues to suffer bad leadership. “We have a critical role in the development of both our economy and nation. We cannot afford to fold our arms while things continue to go bad. As Nigerians imbued with a sense of leadership, we need to rise up to the occasion. Government has no business in government or business.” Earlier, the President of the club, Mrs. Modupe Sasore, while thanking members for redeeming their pledge towards the forthcoming global foundation centenary, said the dinner became necessary because it is an opportunity for embers and non members to network with one another.
Committee on Information fulfills its promise to pursue the possibility of increasing the budgetary allocation meant for the council. Chairman, Senate Committee on Information, Senator Suleiman Adoke, who led other committee members to APCON Secretariat in Lagos, expressed concern over the way the council is being starved of fund. He advocated for an increased budgetary allocation for the regulatory body to enable it meet and deliver on its mandate as an industry watchdog, and also carry out more research into the sector. While pointing out the contribution of effective advertising to healthy living and sane society, he said consumers would be at the receiving end if APCON is not well equipped to vet advertising materials before they are exposed. “Advertising is important to economic growth because it is a platform through which brands and products can be built. As a nation, Nigeria needs advertising; both for destination branding and marketing of our potentials. It is unfortunate therefore that things are this bad but we will table APCON’s case before the national assembly to address the
Another member of the committee, Senator Dino Melaye, urged APCON to itemise its demand and send it to the national assembly. He argued that most parastatals are suffering because they don’t know the right way to channel their challenges. “Many parastatals find it difficult to approach the national assembly because of the fiat given by the office of the secretary general of the federation during the military regime that every financial issue should go through the office of budget and planning. Unfortunately, that does not work in a democratic certain,” According to him, the national assembly has the power to pass a proposal from any government pararastal into law. He added that if the general house seems to be busy to handle the situation, it will then be forwarded to the committee that is related with the issues. Earlier, Registrar and Chief Executive officer of the Council, Alhaji Garba Bello Kankarofi has expressed displeasure over the council inability to function properly as a result of its withheld budgetary allocation by the federal government.