Economy
QNET Assists Entrepreneurs in Tanzania
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A company of Asian heritage and a part of the US $200 billion global direct selling industry, QNET, is entering the buoyant direct selling sector in Eastern Africa, and expects to offer world class quality consumer products and to elevate standards of living by garnering the spirit of entrepreneurship to all individuals, even those with little business background.
QNET’s product offering include a wide range of world-acclaimed lifestyle and wellness products such as personal care, nutrition, cosmetics, home care and body, water energies, jewellery and watches as well as holiday packages.
QNET, optimizing its existing e-commerce platform currently has three easily accessible local agents in West Africa, namely Mali, Cote d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso. These agents serve as the liaison between QNET, its Independent Representatives (IRs) and customers with their enquiries, delivery of products and the display of product range so as to enable people to view for themselves some of the products sold online. QNET is planning to engage a local agency in Tanzania soon to provide the best customer service in the country.
“QNET is proud to be in Tanzania and is committed to working closely with the local government officials and authorities to create more entrepreneurial opportunities for the local community. Direct selling which is the marketing and selling of products directly to consumers away from a fixed retail location, provides people a great alternative platform to join entrepreneurship” said Mr. David K Sharma, Advisor to QNET Board of Directors.
In addition to offering quality consumer products, ranging from health and home care to online education courses, and more, QNET firmly believes that there is nothing more empowering to individuals than the financial freedom that a career in the direct selling industry provides, and believes that the people of Tanzania, with their ambition and strong sense of entrepreneurship, will appreciate the quality consumer products that QNET offers and the business opportunities for self-development.
QNET started getting online purchases for its products from Africa since 2007. Today there are thousands of Tanzanian citizens who have also registered to market and promote QNET online products as IRs. The top selling products for QNET in Tanzania are Wellness products, household items such as water filtration systems, health and wellness products, online education learning (such as business courses, marketing courses and business English courses) as well as luxury products like watches and jewellery.
“Our best selling Products include HomePure, a water filtration system as well as AirPure, our air purifier, addresses a real need for clean water and clean air in many developing countries. In developed markets QVI Holidays, a vacation membership and holiday getaway product, tends to be quite popular with those wanting to take rejuvenating breaks. For busy professionals who are interested in continuing their education but have no time, we offer e-learning courses on a number of topics. We also have an expert selection of lifestyle-friendly food supplements for long life and vitality called LifeQode which we recently introduced in Tanzania” explained Mr Sharma.
“QNET is always respectful of the local laws and is fully obliged to the commercial laws and consumer laws of Tanzania. QNET also has policies and procedures that all its IRs must strictly adhere to its code of marketing and promotion of QNET products ethically,” noted, Mr. Sharma.
Mr Sharma assured potential entrepreneurs in Tanzania of QNET’s continued support through training and education of IRs with a view to developing their professional skills with special focus on personal growth and development.
“We believe that financial success alone is not enough. In order for us to make an impact, we need to develop people to be better human beings so that they can use their success to contribute to their local communities”, he added.
Globally, the World Federation of Direct Selling Associations (WFDSA), which QNET is affiliated through the Direct Selling Associations of Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia, reported unprecedented sales and engagement with 6.4% growth generating close to US$ 200 billion in 2015. WFDSA said that in the past three years, the industry has seen a compound annual growth rate of 6.5 percent. It also noted that behind direct selling’s positive growth trend are millions of entrepreneurs marketing an array of products and services.
With direct selling gaining popularity, Tanzania is seen to have huge potential to become a leading market in the African region.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed flat on Wednesday, August 5, as the market witnessed weaker trading activity with only two deals executed.
In the midweek session, the volume of securities exchanged by investors dropped 99.9 per cent to 802 units from the 1.6 million units recorded on Tuesday. The value of securities further decreased by 99.6 per cent to N208,240 from the preceding session’s N47.6 million, and the number of deals significantly went down by 93.9 per cent to two deals from the 33 deals recorded a day earlier.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 76.9 million units transacted for N5.5 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.
There were no price gainers or losers yesterday.
As a result, the market capitalisation stood unmoving at N2.739 trillion, while the NASD Security Index (NSI) remained unchanged at 4,563.96 points.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira slid against the US Dollar by N2.28 or 0.17 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Wednesday, August 5, to N1,363.85/$1 from N1,362.55/$1.
The local currency also declined against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N5.97 to close at N1,837.38/£1 compared with Tuesday’s closing rate of N1,831.41/£1, and against the Euro, it crashed by N6.54 to quote at N1,575.25/€1 versus the preceding session’s N1,568.71/€1.
But at the black market, the Nigerian Naira traded flat against the greenback yesterday at N1,400/$1, and also remained unchanged at the GTBank FX desk at N1,373/$1.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says rates have narrowed to below two per cent, while the country’s external reserves have risen above $52.5 billion, reflecting the impact of its ongoing monetary and foreign exchange reforms.
CBN Governor Yemi Cardoso, represented by the Acting Director of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations, Mrs Hakama Sidi-Ali, disclosed this on Tuesday during the CBN Fair in Gombe. He noted that reforms introduced since 2023 had significantly reduced the disparity between the official FX market and the parallel market.
“The Naira continues to strengthen, with the spread between official and Bureau de Change rates now below two per cent,” he said, adding that reserves at $52.5 billion were supported by sustained inflows and renewed investor confidence in the economy.
Interbank FX transactions slid as weaker market activities dropped total Dollar volume exchanged to $75.35 million, a 51.8 per cent decline from $156.23 million in turnover quoted at the previous close.
The deals at the NFEM window also fell as data from the central bank put Wednesday’s quote at 82 from 139.
In the cryptocurrency market, major were down as global risk sentiment softened as a key world equity index slipped and chipmakers fell.
The MSCI All Country World Index snapped a five-day run to fall 0.2 per cent as chipmakers retreated on both sides of the Pacific. South Korea’s Kospi, a bellwether for the AI trade, dropped 4.4 per cent.
Ripple (XRP) depleted by 1.7 per cent to $1.05, Binance Coin (BNB) decreased by 1.0 per cent to $594.87, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 0.9 per cent to $0.1884, TRON (TRX) shrank by 0.2 per cent to $0.3261, Solana (SOL) crumbled by 0.1 per cent to $74.00, and Dogecoin (DOGE) went down by 0.1 per cent to $0.0697.
On the flip side, Ethereum (ETH) gained 2.3 per cent to trade at $1,911.41, and Bitcoin (BTC) rose by 0.8 per cent to $64,759.28, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
By Dipo Olowookere
The domestic stock exchange rebounded by 0.05 per cent on Wednesday on the back of renewed bargain-hunting by investors, though the level of activity waned.
After bleeding for a few days, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited heaved a sigh of relief yesterday, as the All-Share Index (ASI) gained 109.41 points to close at 244,912.24 points compared with the previous day’s 244,802.83 points, and the market capitalisation garnered N71 billion to settle at N158.087 trillion versus Tuesday’s N158.016 trillion.
Business Post reports that despite the rebound recorded by Customs Street at midweek, the market breadth index remained negative, as there were 20 price advancers and 29 price decliners, implying bearish investor sentiment.
Linkage Assurance appreciated by 9.94 per cent to N1.77, AVA Capital rose by 9.55 per cent to N10.90, Fortis Global Insurance advanced by 7.69 per cent to N2.80, McNichols gained 7.34 per cent to finish at N5.85, and Coronation Insurance surged by 5.51 per cent to N2.49.
Conversely, Honeywell Flour depreciated by 9.94 per cent to N16.30, PZ Cussons gave up 9.94 per cent to trade at N74.75, Zichis crashed by 9.74 per cent to N20.76, Learn Africa slipped by 9.62 per cent to N9.40, and Neimeth tumbled by 8.33 per cent to N8.25.
The busiest equity was FCMB, with a turnover of 369.2 million units valued at N4.1 billion. Chams transacted 46.7 million units worth N201.8 million, First Holdco transacted 43.5 million units for N5.7 billion, Access Holdings sold 29.8 million units worth N778.0 million, and Linkage Assurance exchanged 19.6 million units valued at N33.5 million.
At the close of transactions, market participants bought and sold 824.1 million units worth N25.5 billion in 48,114 deals, in contrast to the 1.6 billion units sold for N28.7 billion in 54,160 deals a day earlier, showing a shortfall in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 48.49 per cent, 11.15 per cent, and 11.16 per cent, respectively.
