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Economy

P&G Meets FG, MAN, Top Local Suppliers, Pledges Increased Localization

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By Dipo Olowookere

The management of leading manufacturing company and makers of brands like Always and Pampers, Procter and Gamble (P&G) Nigeria, recently engaged select local raw material suppliers in the country to an interactive meeting with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment and representatives from the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN).

The meeting was convened to assess the capability of local businesses and seek their participation in strengthening our raw material localization objectives in line with the Backward Integration Program (BIP) of the Federal Government.

This is following the recent commissioning of P&G Nigeria’s Always Production Line in June, which was officially done by the Vice President of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.

At this event, the consumer goods company, reiterated its commitment to investing in Nigeria and its support towards the Federal Government’s diversification efforts. The new local production of P&G’s Feminine Care product not only promotes inclusive growth but is also boosting job creation and value adds to the economy.

Speaking at the meeting, Managing Director of Procter and Gamble Nigeria, George Nassar, commended the Ministry’s gesture to engage local businesses saying, “We praise the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment on their willingness to engage local suppliers and assess the capability of their businesses. That, on its own, is very encouraging and we believe today’s meeting is pivotal to accelerating our local sourcing projects.”

According to Nassar, “P&G Nigeria currently procures 100 percent of the packaging materials for its products locally and is working towards increasing the local sourcing of the raw materials we use. We will continue to partner with the government in our quest to achieve this.

“P&G is committed to doing business with more locally owned businesses and we appreciate the role the Federal Government is playing towards improving the ease of doing business in Nigeria and as a business will continue to foster a strong partnership with them to boost this effort.”

He also charged the Federal Government to continue its efforts towards enabling local entrepreneurship development and helping them with the capabilities required to produce raw materials locally.

“This will go a long way in actualizing its economic development agenda,” he said.

Speaking on the objectives of the meetings; Temitope Iluyemi, Director of Government Relations and Public Policy for Procter & Gamble Africa Operations said; “Backward integration is essential to the growth of the Nigerian economy and P&G’s aim is to manufacture as close as possible to its consumers, encourage our global partners to do the same and thereby promote technology transfer.

“We will work to pre-qualify local suppliers for materials used in the production of consumer packaged products and by extension, build capability of local manufacturers to compete effectively in regional value chains and further strengthen the diversification efforts of the Nigerian government”

Dr Francis Alaneme, Deputy Director Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment also commented, saying, “We want to increase the local sourcing of raw materials in the country and it is imperative to create opportunities like this to promote growth and provide a platform for cross-sharing and capability building.

“Partnering with corporate organizations like P&G to engage these businesses will grant us more access to notable suppliers of raw materials in the manufacturing sector and we commend the company’s effort in taking the lead on this.”

P&G has a long-standing record of building capability of local businesses for growth and development and enabling local entrepreneurship development. The company has trained hundreds of SMEs and has been involved in a series of skills building programs.

In 2015, it partnered with National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), to host a symposium, bringing together leading academics, thought leaders, local entrepreneurs and industry members to discuss the critical issues of development in technology to promote growth through research and technology transfer in Africa.

Through the engagement sessions, all parties hope to explore ways of ensuring raw material inputs are effectively sourced locally; carve out strategies to mitigate the challenges that are being faced and ultimately help local suppliers meet the requirements needed to better support the Nigerian manufacturing sector.

Dipo Olowookere is a journalist based in Nigeria that has passion for reporting business news stories. At his leisure time, he watches football and supports 3SC of Ibadan. Mr Olowookere can be reached via [email protected]

Economy

PenCom Extends Deadline for Pension Recapitalisation to June 2027

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Pension Recapitalisation

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The deadline for the recapitalisation of the Nigerian pension industry has been extended by six months to June 2027 from December 2026.

This extension was approved by the National Pension Commission (PenCom), the agency, which regulates the sector in the country.

Addressing newsmen on Thursday in Lagos, the Director-General of PenCom, Ms Omolola Oloworaran, explained that the shift in deadline was to give operators more time to boost the capital base, dismissing speculations that the exercise had been suspended.

“The recapitalisation has not been suspended. We have communicated the requirements to the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs), and we expect every operator to be compliant by June 2027. Anyone who is not compliant by then will lose their licence,” Ms Oloworaran told journalists.

She added that, “From a regulatory standpoint, our major challenge is ensuring compliance. We are working with ICPC, labour and the TUC to ensure employers remit pension contributions for their employees.”

The DG noted that engagements with industry operators indicated broad acceptance of the policy, with many PFAs already taking steps to raise additional capital or explore mergers and acquisitions.

“You may see some mergers and acquisitions in the industry, but what is clear is that the recapitalisation exercise is on track and the industry agrees with us,” she stated.

PenCom wants the PFAs to increase their capital base and has created three categories, with the first consists operators with Assets Under Management of N500 billion and above. They are expected to have a minimum capital of N20 billion and one per cent of AUM above N500 billion.

The second category has PFAs with AUM below N500 billion, which must have at least N20 billion as capital base.

The last segment comprises special-purpose PFAs such as NPF Pensions Limited, whose minimum capital was pegged at N30 billion, and the Nigerian University Pension Management Company Limited, whose minimum capital was fixed at N20 billion.

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Economy

Three Securities Sink NASD Exchange by 0.68%

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NASD securities exchange

By Adedapo Adesanya

Three securities weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.68 per cent on Thursday, December 18.

According to data, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc led the losers’ group after it slipped by N2.87 to N36.78 per share from N39.65 per share, Golden Capital Plc depreciated by 77 Kobo to end at N6.98 per unit versus the previous day’s N7.77 per unit, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc dropped 19 Kobo to sell at N60.00 per share versus Wednesday’s closing price of N60.19 per share.

At the close of business, the market capitalisation lost N16.81 billion to finish at N2.147 billion compared with the preceding session’s N2.164 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) declined by 24.76 points to 3,589.88 points from 3,614.64 points.

Yesterday, the volume of securities bought and sold increased by 49.3 per cent to 30.5 million units from 20.4 million units, the value of securities surged by 211.8 per cent to N225.1 million from N72.2 million, and the number of deals jumped by 33.3 per cent to 28 deals from 21 deals.

Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc remained the most traded stock by value with a year-to-date sale of 5.8 billion units valued at N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 178.9 million units transacted for N9.5 billion, and MRS Oil Plc with 36.1 million units worth N4.9 billion.

Similarly, InfraCredit Plc ended as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units traded for N16.4 billion, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.7 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units exchanged for N524.9 million.

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Economy

NGX Index Crosses 150,000 points as Market Cap Nears N96trn

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All-Share Index NGX

By Dipo Olowookere

The All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited has again crossed the 150,000-point threshold on Thursday as the demand of for local intensifies.

The market was up by 0.35 per cent during the session, with the NGX index inching higher by 520.23 points to 150,363.05 points from the previous day’s 149,842.82 points and the market capitalisation climbed by N332 billion to N95.857 trillion from N95.525 trillion.

During the session, the consumer goods index grew by 1.23 per cent, the banking counter expanded by 0.56 per cent, and the energy sector appreciated by 0.05 per cent.

However, the insurance industry went down by 0.23 per cent, while the commodity and the industrial goods sectors closed flat.

Nestle Nigeria gained 10.00 per cent to trade at N1,958.00, Guinness Nigeria improved by 9.98 per cent to N289.70, Aluminium Extrusion Industries rose by 9.76 per cent to N11.25, DAAR Communications soared by 9.20 per cent to 95 Kobo, and Mecure Industries surged by 9.13 per cent to N55.00.

On the flip side, Stanbic IBTC lost 9.33 per cent to settle at N95.20, Lasaco Assurance went down by 9.09 per cent to N2.50, Africa Prudential slipped by 8.82 per cent, Austin Laz depreciated by 8.82 per cent to N12.40, and Sterling Holdings crashed by 6.12 per cent to N6.90.

There were 35 price gainers and 26 price losers yesterday, implying a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.

During the session, a total of 839.8 million equities valued at N32.8 billion exchanged hands in 23,211 deals compared with the 5.9 billion equities worth N216.2 billion traded in 25,205 deals a day earlier, indicating a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 85.77 per cent, 84.83 per cent, and 7.91 per cent apiece.

The day’s busiest stock was First Holdco with a turnover of 385.6 million units sold for N15.6 billion, FCMB traded 76.0 million units worth N805.3 million, Lasaco Assurance exchanged 43.6 million units valued at N111.8 million, Access Holdings transacted 29.6 million units worth N616.8 million, and Chams sold 24.8 million units valued at N75.4 million.

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