Companies
Flour Mills to work with Corteva Agriscience on a special maize hybrid
Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc today announced a strategic partnership with Corteva Agriscience, the Agriculture Division of DowDupont. The partnership will see both companies work together towards the development of a special kind of maize hybrid seed for the Nigerian market.
Both companies will work “together on key aspects of the maize value chain in Nigeria”, with focus on capacity building and knowledge transfer. They will also be focusing on the promotion of modern farming methods, and the need for improved and quality outputs; seeds and crop protection.
Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, in a press release announcing this development, stated that the move is in line with the company’s commitment “to be a catalyst in the in the transformation of Nigeria’s agricultural sector”.
Meanwhile, commenting earlier on the development, FMN’s Chairman Mr John Coumantaros, said that the company is excited about the partnership with Corteva Agriscience and what they can achieve together.
We are excited about the prospects of this partnership and what we can achieve. Corteva Agriescience is a globally renowned company with a wealth of experience in crop protection and biotechnology solutions and will introduce new and exciting seed protection techniques that will help develop the maize hybrid seed market in Nigeria.
Over the years, FMN has invested heavily in the primary processing, aggregation, and distribution of locally grown grains such as maize, soybean, rice, sorghum, and wheat, and are passionate about strengthening the capabilities of small-scale farmers, even as we seek out new ways of deepening our supply chain. -Mr John Coumantaros
Also commenting was FMN’s Group Managing Director, Paul Gbadebo who noted that the partnership is still in its “sustainability testing phase for the most viable varieties suitable for this environment and envisage that the next step will be to establish in Nigeria, a world-class hybrid maize production plant.”
Meanwhile, Corteva Agriscience’s Commercial Unit Director for Africa and the Middle East, Mr Prabdeep Bajwa, said that the partnership with FMN is in line with the company’s aim to collaborate across food chains with hopes of transforming agriculture and the role it plays in the society.
In the meantime, Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc and Corteva Agriscience have begun work on demonstration farms in Nigeria, with the aim of showcasing high-performing maize varieties.
Note that Nigeria currently produces about 1.5 metric hectares of maize, and it has projected that improved hybrids and the adoption of other improved farming mechanisms will exponentially increase production yield to as much as 100% in the next five years.
Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc was incorporated in 1960. It is one of the foremost flour milling companies in the country. The company’s shares traded at ₦34.70 as at yesterday May 17th.
DowDupont Inc. is an American company which was formed in 2017 following the merger of Dupont and Dow Chemical. The two companies, which were hitherto independent science-based entities, decided to come together to drive innovation in Agriculture, Material Science and Special Products Industries.
The board of directors of the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has revealed that it will investigate the activities of the suspended Managing Director, 3 Executive Directors, and 8 other senior management staff over financial breaches and gross misconduct.
This was disclosed by the Chairman of the board of NSITF, Mr. Austin Enajemo-Isire, in a statement in Enugu on Sunday July 5, 2020.
Enajemo-Isire said that the Managing Director and other top management staff of the organization would have the opportunity to clear themselves of any wrongdoing with the probe panel which was being set up.
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While reacting to claims that the suspension did not follow due process as President Muhammadu Buhari did not approve it, Enajemo-Isire said that the approval for the suspension of the affected staff had been conveyed to the Labour Minister in a correspondence referenced SGF. 47/511/T/99 of June 30, 2020.
According to the Chairman, “The minister has conveyed this approval and directives to me for necessary action in terms of setting up a board-driven investigative panel.
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“This is to give the affected officers the opportunity to clear themselves of the financial and procurement breaches and acts of gross misconduct and other infractions that gave rise to their prima facie indictment.
“It is in this light that I have decided to call a virtual meeting of the management board on Tuesday, July 7, 2020, to consider the modalities for our action.”
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He, therefore, appealed to staffers of NSITF and their social partners to keep calm and exercise restraint.
A few days ago, Nairametrics reported the suspension of the Managing Director and some senior management staff over corruption allegations. However, the management in its reaction debunked that claim and said that the President did not approve their suspension but that rather, it was the sole decision of the Labour Minister, Chris Ngige, who they said was overreaching himself.
Companies
Nigerian Content Intervention Fund increased to US$350 million
The fund expansion was one of the decisions taken at the board’s recent meeting.
The governing council of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCMB) announced on Sunday that it has approved a $150 million expansion of the Nigerian Content Intervention Fund, raising it from $200 million to $350 million.
Press Release
Nigerian Content Intervention Fund Increased to US$350M
The Governing Council of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has approved the expansion of the Nigerian Content Intervention Fund from US$200 million to US$350 million.@NigeriaGov pic.twitter.com/Y0TtDzwALq
— NCDMB (@OfficialNCDMB) July 5, 2020
The fund expansion was one of the decisions taken at the board’s recent meeting on June 16, 2020, chaired by Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, H.E. Chief Timipre Sylva, who is also the Chairman of the Council.
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The board said that $100 million from the additional fund would be used to boost five existing loan products, which include manufacturing in the oil and gas industry, asset acquisition of rigs, marine vessels, contract financing for Nigerian oil service providers, contract financing for oil and gas community contractors, and loan refinancing with Nigerian banks.
The council also announced that $20 million and $30 million would be used for 2 newly developed loan product types (the Intervention Fund for Women in Oil & Gas and PETAN Products) which include Working Capital loans and Capacity Building loans for PETAN member companies.
Started in 2017, the Nigerian content Intervention fund was developed as a $200 Million fund managed by the Bank of Industry, to facilitate on-lending to qualified stakeholders in the Nigerian oil and gas industry on five loan product types.
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The NCI Fund is a portion of the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF), aggregated from the one percent deduction from the value of contracts executed in the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry.
According to the NCMB, “About 94 percent of the NCI Funds has been disbursed to 27 beneficiaries as at May 2020.”
Companies
Seplat gives notice of board meeting, to consider Q2 financial result
The notification is in conformity with the rules of the Nigerian bourse on the obligations of the issuer.
The indigenous oil and gas firm, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc has given notice of its board of director meeting which has been scheduled for Tuesday, July 28, 2020 through a teleconference in Lagos between 10 am and 3 pm.
This was disclosed in a notification that was sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on July 3, 2020 and signed by the oil firm’s Company Secretary, Edith Onwuchekwa.
The notification is in conformity with the rules of the Nigerian bourse on the obligations of the issuer, in this case, Seplat, to notify the Exchange at least 14 days ahead of the due date and time when the board of directors hopes to meet to discuss its financial results.
The notification from Seplat states, ‘’In line with the rules of the NSE on the obligation of the Issuer to notify the Exchange at least 14 days in advance, in respect of the date and time when the board of directors will meet to discuss its Q2 2020 Financial Results, we wish to state the meeting details as follows,’’
‘’Date: Tuesday 28th July 2020, Venue: Via Teleconference, Lagos, Time: 10.00am – 3.00pm’’
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Seplat, in its statement, also said they were going to notify the Exchange of the details of the Board’s decision on the 2020 second-quarter financial results immediately after the meeting as required by the rules.
Nairametrics had earlier reported that following the global oil crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, the oil and gas firm, in its released financial statement, announced that revenue declined from $159.5 million in Q1 2019 to $130.5 million in Q1 2020. That represented an 18.2% drop.
The gross profit dropped from $81.4 million in Q1 2019 to $33.1 million in Q1 2020. This shows a drop of 59.3%. The profit before deferred tax showed a loss of $105.8 million in Q1 2020 as against the profit before deferred tax of $35.8 million that was achieved in Q1 2019. This represented a huge drop of 395.5%.
The company’s CEO, Austin Avuru, said that as part of its strategy, Seplat was shifting focus to its gas business which is less exposed to the oil price drop which is currently ravaging the upstream sector.
The current share price of Seplat on the Nigerian Stock Exchange is N386 per share as at July 3, 2020.
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