Brands/Products
Onga Delights Brand Advocates at 2019 Foodies Hangout
By Adedapo Adesanya
Major household condiment brand, Onga Seasoning, a product of Promasidor Nigeria Limited, treated active brand followers on social media and budding chefs to a memorable experience in this year’s Onga Foodies Hangout held in Lagos.
The event themed The Jollof Showdown was packed with merriment and delicacies prepared with the brand and took place at Muri Okunola Park, Victoria Island, on Saturday, August 3, 2019.
It was hosted by renowned TV host, Chuey Chu and had in attendance celebrity chefs and food bloggers led by one of the nation’s expert on food blogging, Atim Ukoh, popularly known as Afrolems, who enlightened others on food blogging and photography.
Speaking at the Onga Foodies Hangout, the Category Manager, Culinary and Cereals, Promasidor Nigeria Limited, Mr Olumide Aruleba, said the initiative is an experiential platform aimed at connecting the brand with lovers of food and fun-seekers, who are mostly the brand’s social media followers.
“It is also a time to entertain Onga consumers, to bring them together to enjoy delicacies served with Onga taste and flavours,” he said.
Mr Aruleba added that having debuted in Lagos in 2018, with subsequent event in Abuja, the third edition was borne out of fans request for more.
According to him, the theme, The Jollof Showdown, was in preparation for the 2019 Jollof Day in Ghana in August, where the winner from the cooking competition at the third edition will represent Nigeria.
The jollof cooking competition was the highlight of the event and after a painstaking decision by the judges based on taste and presentation, Adebukola Abass (Chef Turay) was declared the winner.
She took home the prize of a giant refrigerator and other gifts, and will represent Nigeria at the 2019 Jollof Rice Day. While receiving her prize, exhilarating Abass, commended Onga for the laudable initiative and the opportunity to showcase her skills. Also, she promised to make the nation proud in Ghana.
The event was graced by three seasoned chefs and one attendee was supported by ex-Big Brother Naija housemates, Vandora Williams and Nina Ivy, Nollywood actress, Chy Nwakanma and ONGAcious TV Show host, Folake Cole-Adeife.
In her remark, Chy Nwakanma, who supported Abass, affirmed that she was highly delighted to be behind the winner and praised the brand for putting the initiative together.
Speaking on Onga’s range of products, the Brand Manager, Sophiat Bello, said Onga is proudly the Seasoning of Naija, made with locally sourced raw materials and caters to all culinary needs from start to finish. She said with Onga’s range of powdered and cube seasonings, everyone can make extraordinary meals every time.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
To make finding the right service provider or reaching the right customer seamless, popular local information portal, Connect Nigeria, has introduced a Quote Request platform.
Connect Nigeria described the new system as “a digital solution designed to make connecting with service providers faster, easier, and more reliable.”
It said the Quote Request was built for consumers who need services quickly and want trusted options without the stress of searching endlessly; and service providers and businesses looking for real, high-intent customers without spending heavily on marketing.
“Whether you need a caterer for an event, a plumber for your home, or a designer for your brand, the platform is designed to connect you with the right people,” Connect Nigeria added.
“By connecting demand directly with supply, the platform creates a more structured and dependable marketplace,” it further stated.
At its core, the Quote Request simplifies the entire process of finding and offering services.
To use the service, users have to submit a request describing the service or product needed, which is then sent to verified vendors on the platform. Interested providers respond within 1–2 days, and users compare offers and choose what works best for their needs and budget.
“Instead of searching for vendors, the vendors come to you, with relevant, tailored responses,” Connect Nigeria explained.
The company expects this new platform to eliminate the stress of endless online searches, delayed or vague responses, and uncertainty about service quality.
As for businesses, it solves poor visibility, inconsistent customer flow, and lost opportunities due to slow response times.
Connect Nigeria Quote Request mobile app is now available on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
An institutional investor, First Ally Capital, has strengthened a leading Nigerian financial technology company, Mathesis Analytics, to scale its proprietary credit decisioning infrastructure.
It made this possible by injecting fresh capital into the firm, which specialises in AI-powered credit decisioning infrastructure, an action that will directly support the growth and scaling of Mathesis’ core mission of providing the intelligence and infrastructure needed to bridge the credit gap for millions of unscored or underscored individuals across Nigeria.
With this investment, Mathesis will enable financial institutions to confidently assess and extend credit to borrowers who lack a formal credit history by leveraging an expanded pool of alternative behavioural and transactional data.
To date, Mathesis’ systems have supported more than 8 million loans for over 2 million unique borrowers in Nigeria, and the company is actively deploying its infrastructure to establish a growing pan-African footprint.
With the investment from First Ally Capital, Mathesis is well positioned to transform how the credit ecosystem operates, driving financial inclusion in partnership with lenders across the continent.
A significant barrier to credit access in Nigeria, which prides itself on being Africa’s largest economy, is data fragmentation. Borrowers frequently build positive financial behaviours across multiple digital platforms by repaying microfinance loans, saving through fintech wallets, or servicing Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) facilities.
However, under traditional credit infrastructure, these achievements remain invisible to new lenders.
Mathesis addresses this challenge through the concept of Personal Equity—the quantified expression of an individual’s financial behaviour aggregated across every institution with which they have transacted.
By translating these disparate signals into a precise, portable measure of creditworthiness, Mathesis creates a comprehensive credit identity that reflects the full breadth of a person’s financial life.
“True financial inclusion cannot be achieved in a vacuum; it requires structural collaboration in which lenders and fintech companies work as partners within the ecosystem.
“This investment from First Ally Capital validates our approach to reshaping credit infrastructure. By quantifying Personal Equity, we empower lenders to safely look beyond the constraints of formal credit histories and recognise a borrower’s true creditworthiness. This capital enables us to accelerate our pan-African expansion while maintaining the robust, institutional-grade infrastructure our partners rely on,” the chief executive of Mathesis Analytics, Winston Osuchukwu, stated.
On his part, the chief executive of First Ally Capital, Mr Ebenezer Olufowose, said, “At First Ally Capital, we pride ourselves on being a one-stop destination for financial solutions, offering a diverse portfolio of services ranging from investment banking and asset management to trusteeship, inclusive banking, and real estate.
“Our investment in Mathesis Analytics reflects our strong belief in the company’s vision and our commitment to supporting forward-thinking enterprises that deliver excellence.”
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The chief executive of Canal+ Africa, Mr David Mignot, has disclosed that MultiChoice is now fully integrated into the media group.
Mr Mignot disclosed this via a statement issued on Thursday, noting that this development marks a new phase in the evolution of one of Africa’s leading pay television operators.
He noted that the integration positions MultiChoice within a global media organisation with an extensive international footprint.
“MultiChoice is now a full subsidiary of a truly international media group operating in 70 countries. The group was founded in France, is listed in London and Johannesburg, and has a strong African presence with operations in more than 45 countries,” Mr Mignot said.
The statement underscores the scale of the combined business, highlighting Canal+’s global reach alongside its significant investments across Africa.
The completion of the transaction is expected to strengthen MultiChoice’s position in the African media and entertainment market by giving it access to the broader resources, expertise and international capabilities of the Canal+ Group, while reinforcing the group’s commitment to the continent.
MultiChoice operates across sub-Saharan Africa through platforms including DStv and GOtv, serving millions of subscribers with entertainment, sports and news content.
