Companies
Dangote to launch 200 housing units for IDPs in the North East
In another rare gesture from a private sector operator to help government in the rehabilitation of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in parts of the insurgency ravaged areas in the North East, the Aliko Dangote Foundation has concluded preparation to commission a multi-billion Naira housing estate.
The commissioning of the 200 housing units for IDPs in Borno which has been slated for later this month according to the CEO of Aliko Dangote Foundation, Zouera Youssoufou is coming even as the Foundation has also completed the construction of a state-of-the-art hostel in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
The 10 block of hostel has the capacity to accommodate 1,440 students conveniently.
Mrs. Youssoufou who made the disclosure at an event in Maiduguri, Borno state, stated that the housing units is one of the many critical interventions the Foundation had mapped out for execution in the North Eastern part of Nigeria to restore life to the area and help IDPs live a normal life again.
Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State while reacting to this development, said Mr. Dangote is the single largest benefactor of the IDPs after the Federal and state governments.
The Governor stated that Mr. Dangote’s contribution does not only stop at feeding and clothing the IDPs which he has been doing over the years, it also stretches to resettling and rehabilitating them, a feat no other private organization has been able to match.
Chairman, Aliko Dangote Foundation, Aliko Dangote; Emir of Lafia, HRH. Dr. Isa Mustapha Agwai and former Governor of Ekiti State, Otunba Niyi Adebayo at the Emir’s Palace during a courtesy visit by the Board of Dangote Foundation to the Palace of the emir over the weekend.
Just recently the Aliko Dangote Foundation flagged off its 2018 Ramadan Food distribution in the state with the distribution of food items worth N150 million to some 200 households from Dalori Community in the state. The items include: Rice, Sugar, Salt, Spaghetti, Semolina, Wheat Meal, Maize and Millet.
On the 10 blocks of hostel constructed for the ABU, the Group Executive Director, Stakeholders Management and Corporate Communication of the Dangote Group, Engr. Ahmed Mansur, said Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the Chairman of the Foundation was not resting on his oars, as he plans to up his stakes in the act of philanthropy.
The Ahmadu Bello University is the biggest university in sub-saharan Africa, and topped the 2018 ranking of Nigerian universities.
Engr. Mansur said no date has yet been fixed for the commissioning of the newly built 10-blocks of hostel and that Group has and would continue to contribute enormously to the educational sector in Nigeria.
He quoted Mr. Dangote as saying that Dangote Group had spent well over N4 billion in building classrooms, scholarship programmes and upgrading infrastructure across various University among others.
“We have just recently commissioned the Dangote Business School in Kano, the only Business School in Nigeria that is well equipped. We will also be commissioning similar projects in University of Ibadan, we have done quite a lot in the education system and we are looking to do more.
“Investing in the young people to us means, we are all working together to build a better Nigeria. In equipping Nigeria youths and prepare them for the 21st century challenges, we established the Dangote Academy in Kogi State, which provide specialized training and management skills for the youths particularly considering the large man power needed in the manufacturing industries,” he said.
He added: “Our ultimate goal is to promote rapid industrialization of Nigeria, using our own local talents.”
National President of the Ahmadu Bello University Alumni Association, Professor Ahmed Tijani Mora who expressed gratitude for the students’ accommodation further described the President of the Dangote Group Aliko Dangote as a ‘dedicated philanthropist.’
He said the intervention by the Foundation was crucial and timely as the University’s infrastructure was already overstretched.
It would be recalled that only recently, the Foundation donated a well-equipped secondary school valued at N120 million in Lagos.
The Foundation donated a World Class Business School worth N1.2bn to the Bayero University Kano, while building another one in the University of Ibadan, which is due for commissioning too.
Funding was also provided for the construction of a 500 capacity student hostel complex of the University of Science and Technology, Wudil in Kano.
The Aliko Dangote Foundation has instituted several scholarship schemes in its business units across Nigeria. Only last week, the Foundation donated 150 fully equipped patrol cars to the Nigeria Police to aid in combating crimes.
Mr. Dangote had said that the motivation behind his public spirit gesture was because he does not only want to be “known as the Africa’s Richest Man, but the biggest African philanthropist. I will continue to use my resources and my voice to help shape a better Nigeria, and Africa as a whole.”
Companies
Lafarge Africa Plc. announces its board meeting and closed period for Q2 2020
The notification which was duly signed by General Counsel & Company Secretary.
Lafarge Africa Plc. notified the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the investing public that he closed period will commence on Wednesday, 8th July 2020 until the unaudited financial statement for the second quarter ended 30th June 2020, is released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
In a disclosure on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, it wrote: “We hereby notify the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the investing public that a meeting of the Board of Directors of Lafarge Africa Plc has been scheduled to hold on Thursday, 23rd July 2020 to consider the second quarter financial results of the Company for the quarter ended 30th June 2020.”
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The notification which was duly signed by General Counsel & Company Secretary, Mrs. Adewunmi Alode explained further stating that “Accordingly, no Director, employee, persons discharging managerial responsibility and Advisers of the Company and their connected persons may directly or indirectly deal in the shares of the Company in any manner during the closed period.”
Over the past few months, it made a few board changes with the retirement of two of its Non-Executive Directors, as well as the appointment of three new Directors. It had also spun off its South African subsidiary, Lafarge South Africa Holdings (LSAH), last year.
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Lafarge Africa’s Q1 2020 revenue was up 9.8% year-on-year to N63.7 billion, driven by higher Cement Sales (a figure up 11% year-on-year to N62.3 billion) which offset the weakness in Aggregate and Concrete (down 21% y/y to N1.4bn). Its EBITDA grew by 2.4% year-on-year to N19.3 billion as well. As at Tuesday the 7th of July, the share price of the company was N10.00.
Companies
AXA Mansard Insurance Plc gives notice of Annual General Meeting
The AGM will be live-streamed to enable shareholders and stakeholders participate.
Insurance firm, AXA Mansard Insurance Plc., has given notice of its board of its Annual General Meeting (AGM) scheduled for Wednesday, July 29, 2020, at 10:00 a.m.
The announcement which was disclosed by Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in a corporate disclosure on July 7th, 2020 and signed by Company Secretary, Omowunmi Mabel Adewusi read, “Notice is hereby given that the twenty-eighth annual general meeting of AXA Mansard Insurance Plc. will hold at the Oriental Hotel, no. 3, Lekki Road, Victoria Island, Lagos on Wednesday, July 29, 2020, at 10:00 a.m.”
READ ALSO: AXA Mansard divests from its pension and real estate ventures
As noted, the purpose of the AGM is to transact the following business:
- To receive the Audited Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2019, and the Reports of the Directors, Auditors and Statutory Audit Committee thereon
- To authorise Directors to fix the remuneration of the Auditors
- To elect Directors and
- To elect members of the Statutory Audit Committee.
In order to ensure that all relevant stakeholders can be a part of the AGM, the company will also be streaming the AGM live. It noted that “This will enable shareholders and other stakeholders who will not be attending physically to follow the proceedings.”
The link for the live streaming of the Meeting will be made available on the Company’s website at www.axamansard.com.
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Recall that a few months ago, in March, the company’s Board of Directors announced the appointment of John Dickson as the company’s new Non-Executive Director. A month earlier, it also disclosed its plan to sell its pension management subsidiary (AXA Mansard Pensions Ltd) and some undisclosed real estate investments.
Its unaudited financials for the period Q1 2020 reveal a growth across revenue and profit lines. Gross written premium grew by 21% from N17.4 billion earned in Q1 2019 to N21 billion in Q1 2020. Profit for the year for the group grew by a commendable 120% from N890 million in Q1 2019 to N1.9 billion in Q1 2020.
As at Tuesday, the 7th of July when markets closed, the share price of the company was N1.59. The company’s EPS stood at 0.33 while its price to book ratio stood at 0.6082.
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.
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