Economy

Baking Industry is Key for Food Production in Nigeria—Pande

Published

4 years ago

20/05/2021

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The Managing Director of Crown Flour Mill Limited, Mr Ashish Pande, has described the baking industry as very important for food production in Nigeria.

He said the sector, asides from producing one of the key staple foods in the country, bread, the segment has also created jobs for thousands of people employed in its value chain.

In a statement issued by Crown Flour Mill, makers of the popular Mama Gold Flour brands, to felicitate with Nigerian bakers on the commemoration of the World Baking Day on Monday, May 17, 2021, Mr Pande said the company will continue to provide scaled support resources to bolster the productivity level and employment-generating capacity of the baking industry.

“The baking industry is key for food production in Nigeria; it produces bread, a major staple food in the country, not to mention pastries and confectionery.

“Asides producing Nigeria’s leading staple food, the bread segment creates jobs for thousands of people employed in its value chain, which ranges from bakers down to street hawkers.

“Having realised the importance of the segment to the Nigerian economy, in consultation with bakers, we were able to identify skill and knowledge gaps that needed to be closed if the segment was to continue playing its crucial role in supporting the Nigerian economy and food security.

“Thereafter, we launched a baking school, which has continued to enhance the skill and know-how of operators of non-mechanized or artisanal bakeries since 2018,” he said

Speaking about the company’s baking school and why the firm prioritised bakers’ capacity development, Mr Olayinka Yusuf, Head, Crown Flour Mill Baking School, explained that the baking school offers bakers the opportunity to enhance their technical and business management skills.

“We believe that with the right knowledge, artisanal bakers can improve their output with their existing equipment, resulting in lower production costs and increased margins,” he said.

Mr Yusuf revealed that Crown Flour has committed about N120 million to training bakers pan-Nigeria from 2020 to date.

So far, 1,500 bakers have benefitted from the firm’s capacity building initiative. The Crown Flour baking programme focuses on equipping both existing and the next generation of bakers with the requisite knowledge and skills to take the industry to the next level.

The firm’s baking schools are currently located in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Lagos, Warri, Ilorin, Calabar and Kano where bakers are taken through a 3-day intensive accelerated bakers’ training course for free.

The lockdown afforded many interested bakers the opportunity to hone their skills, prompting them to keep on improving their craft.

“Baking can be a very lucrative vocation and the requisite requirement is the passion and will to pursue one’s dream,” Mr Pande said.

The success and positive feedback from bakers who attended the baking school are heartening.

Mrs Keyede Kikelomo of Excel Bakery said: “I have learnt a lot from this training. One thing I didn’t know before the training was the high-water absorption rate of Mama Gold which translates into an extra dough which results in extra profit per bag of flour.”

Another participant, Mr Ogugba Ernest of Dan Real Bakery shared that he learnt a lot from the Crown Flour baking school.

In his words, “I have learnt the impact, good bakery practices such as ingredients measurement, sanitation and staff management have on the profitability of my bakery.”

World Baking Day is celebrated globally. The commemorative event provides an opportunity for bakers and millers to highlight the benefits of baked foods and drive further innovation in the baked foods industry as households increasingly pivot to wheat derivative foods due to their higher nutrition values, price advantage and availability.

Crown Flour is a subsidiary of Olam, an agribusiness conglomerate.

Economy

Nigerian Exchange All-Share Index Hits 126,000-point Level

Published

4 hours ago

12/07/2025

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

A day after crossing the 124,000-point threshold, the All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited hit another milestone on Friday after it closed higher by 1.37 per cent.

Business Post reports that the benchmark index of Customs Street finished at 126,149.59 points after adding 1,702.79 points to the 124,446.80 points it ended a day earlier.

Equally, the market capitalisation of the Nigerian bourse, which measures the total value of stocks on the platform, went up by N1.077 trillion to N79.803 trillion from N78.726 trillion.

At the trading session, 65 equities ended on the gainers’ chart and 25 equities finished on the losers’ table, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.

Guinness Nigeria, Cadbury Nigeria, Consolidated Hallmark, and NEM Insurance all gained 10.00 per cent each to close at N96.80, N60.50, N3.63, and N22.00 apiece, and Red Star Express improved by 9.98 per cent to N13.44.

Conversely, Learn Africa depreciated by 8.66 per cent to N6.01, Tantalizers shed 6.25 per cent to settle at N3.00, Prestige Assurance slumped by 6.02 per cent to N1.25, Regency Alliance crashed by 5.62 per cent to 84 Kobo, and Oando lost 4.61 per cent to close at N51.70.

The NGX recorded a turnover of 1.4 billion shares traded for N30.6 billion in 33,399 deals on Friday compared with the 1.3 billion shares worth N27.7 billion traded in 27,875 deals on Thursday, implying an increase in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 7.69 per cent, 10.47 per cent, and 19.82 per cent, respectively.

Access Holdings led the activity chart with 172.9 million units sold for N4.2 billion, Ellah Lakes traded 144.9 million units valued at N1.8 billion, Japaul exchanged 138.7 million units worth N498.8 million, UBA transacted 73.0 million units worth N3.2 billion, and AIICO Insurance traded 60.7 million units worth N135.7 million.

A look at the sectorial performance indicated that the banking index grew by 5.61 per cent, the insurance counter rose by 3.78 per cent, and the industrial goods sector expanded by 1.69 per cent.

However, the energy space depreciated by 0.49 per cent, the consumer goods industry went down by 0.23 per cent, and the commodity sector slipped by 0.02 per cent.

Economy

Unlisted Securities Investors Gain N5.27bn

Published

4 hours ago

12/07/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange ended the last trading session of this week with a 0.26 per cent gain on Friday, July 11, helped by renewed buying interest by investors.

This increased their portfolios by N5.27 billion during the session, with the market capitalisation of the bourse closing at N2.01 trillion compared with the N2.005 trillion it ended at the preceding session.

In the same vein, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) expanded yesterday by 9.01 points to settle at 3,433.20 points, in contrast to the 3,424.19 points it finished a day earlier.

It was observed that the volume of securities traded by the market participants went down by 12.6 per cent to 2.7 million units from the 3.08 million units transacted on Thursday.

However, the value of securities transacted by investors appreciated by 55.6 per cent to N38.9 million from N25.1 million, and the number of deals executed jumped by 9.7 per cent to 34 deals from the 31 deals deals completed on Thursday.

Okitipupa Plc finished the day as the most traded stock by value (year-to-date) with 153.8 million units worth N4.9 billion, Air Liquide Plc occupied the second spot with 507.2 million units sold for N4.2 billion, and the third place was taken by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 42.2 million units valued at N1.8 billion.

Impresit Bakolori Plc also closed as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 536.9 million units traded for N524.8 million, followed by Air Liquide Plc with 507.2 million units sold for N4.2 billion, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 270.6 million units worth N486.0 million.

The single price loser for the session was Geo-Fluids Plc as its price depleted by 20 Kobo to N4.59 per share from N4.79 per share.

But, Air Liquide Plc gained 98 Kobo to close at N10.92 per unit versus N9.94 per unit, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc grew by 56 Kobo to N33.00 per share from N32.44 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc increased by 47 Kobo to N64.36 per unit from N63.89 per unit, Lagos Building Investment Company (LBIC) Plc rose by 30 Kobo to N3.38 per share from N3.08 per share, and UBN Property Plc soared by 19 Kobo to N2.10 per unit from N1.91 per unit.

Economy

Naira Weakens to N1,531 Per Dollar at Official Market

Published

5 hours ago

12/07/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

It was another bad day for the Nigerian Naira in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday as its value further weakened against the US Dollar.

Data harvested by Business Post showed that it lost N4.50 or 0.29 per cent against the greenback during the trading session to finish at N1,531.10/$1 compared with the N1,526.60/$1 it was exchanged on Thursday.

However, the Nigerian currency appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same official market yesterday by N31.10 to close at N2,066.31/£1 compared with the previous day’s N2,070.29/£1 and gained N5.95 on the Euro to sell for N1,783.57/€1, in contrast to the N1,787.66/€1 it was traded a day earlier.

In the black market, the Naira weakened against the United States currency on Friday by N5 to quote at N1,535/$1 versus the N1,530/$1 it was transacted in the preceding trading day.

After initial volatility in the first half of the year, the Naira has showed stability even as global oil prices declined, a sharp contrast to its previous fundamentals and this is expected to continue amid rising FX reserves.

Recent data from early July indicates a slight improvement in the country’s FX reserves, primarily attributed to enhanced foreign portfolio investment (FPI) inflows; however, the trajectory of reserves remains susceptible to external headwinds.

The reduced FX demand pressures, particularly due to a slowdown in import trade-related outflows are also expected to provide support.

Also, there are early signs that import-related FX demand is beginning to recover in the past few days.

Also, the Naira appreciated by 3.5 per cent in June 2025, to close at N1,532.0 per Dollar at the official window driven by improved market sentiment.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market firmed up yesterday, with Ripple (XRP) chalking up 6.9 per cent to sell at $2.76, as traders look for regulatory clarity and practical adoption. This week, Ripple Labs’ CEO, Mr Brad Garlinghouse, argued for clearer crypto regulations at the US Senate Banking Committee.

Regulation could be beneficial for the token which has positioned itself an institutional-grade cryptocurrency rather than other speculative assets.

Further, Cardano (ADA) added 1.9 per cent to trade at $0.7132, Dogecoin (DOGE) jumped by 1.5 per cent to $0.2009, and Binance Coin (BNB) appreciated by 0.9 per cent settle at $692.79.

On the flip side, Litecoin (LTC) declined by 2.2 per cent to $93.04, Ethereum (ETH) went down by 0.9 per cent to $2,963.58, Solana (SOL) slipped by 0.7 per cent to $162.95, and Bitcoin (BTC) dropped 2.4 per cent to close at $111,412.99, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.