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TINGO: All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) Exclusively Adopts Tingo Mobile’s Nwassa Marketplace Platform for its Members

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1 year ago

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AFAN Launches Nationwide Marketing of the Nwassa Marketplace Platform to all its Members

AFAN to Promote Nwassa Platform to its Farmers as their Recommended Method for the Purchase of Farming Inputs; Sale of Agricultural Produce; and Purchase of a Range of Value-added Services

Six Million New Tingo Mobile Smartphones to be Leased by AFAN Beginning in December 2023

First Rice Harvest on Land Cultivated Through AFAN and Tingo Mobile Partnership Commenced, Plans to Increase Scope of the Program to Cultivate Larger Areas of Land

Tingo Mobile, AFAN and PCX Partnership’s Warehouse Network Now Being Utilized Nationwide

Tingo Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: TIO) (“Tingo” or the “Company”), a profitable, multi-national fintech, agri-fintech, food processing and commodity trading company, today announced that its trade partner, the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (“AFAN”), has formally adopted Tingo Mobile’s Nwassa as its exclusive marketplace platform for its members.

AFAN is the umbrella body of the 56 recognized commodities and agricultural associations in Nigeria, with branches in all 36 states of Nigeria. In 2022, as part of its strategy to make sustainable agriculture the core foundation of Nigeria’s economy, AFAN announced a national program and commitment to register all farmers across Nigeria, with the potential to grow its membership to 60 million. Tingo Mobile is working closely with AFAN to support it in achieving its goal, and to grow its own customer base in Nigeria to 60 million.

Supported by a wide-reaching national marketing campaign across Nigeria, AFAN is promoting the Nwassa marketplace platform to all its members, and to potential new members, as its recommended method of: (i) purchasing farming inputs, such as fertilizer, seeds, pesticides, tools and equipment; (ii) selling their produce, both directly to consumers and also to wholesalers and food processors, such as Tingo Foods and Tingo DMCC; and (iii) purchasing or facilitating a range of value-added services such as mobile phone airtime and data top-up, insurance, microfinance and bill payment.

To support AFAN’s commitment to register 20 million of its members as new customers of Tingo Mobile and Nwassa, Tingo Mobile is delivering 6 million new smartphones in the coming weeks. AFAN is scheduled to lease the 6 million new smartphones for its members beginning in December 2023, representing a 63% increase in Tingo Mobile’s leasing customers.

Earlier this month, the wet-season rice harvest commenced on the 3,000 hectares of land that Tingo Mobile financed the cultivation of in June 2023. This is expected to generate significant amounts of produce for Tingo Foods and Tingo DMCC, while also providing considerable support to AFAN and its farmers. Following the successful proof of model, Tingo Mobile and AFAN plan to significantly expand the program to cultivate much larger areas of land in 2024. The wet season harvest, which covers a range of different crops, is the first to fully utilize the network of warehouses that Tingo Mobile has commenced to manage in partnership with AFAN and Prime Commodity Exchange (“PCX”) under the terms of the exclusive tri-partite agreement signed on April 26, 2023.

Dozy Mmobuosi, Interim Co-Chief Executive Officer of Tingo Group, Inc. commented: “Our partnership with AFAN continues to go from strength-to-strength, and AFAN’s exclusive adoption of Nwassa as the recommended marketplace platform for their farmers is both a significant and humbling endorsement. I am extremely grateful to AFAN’s president, Farouk Rabiu Mudi, and AFAN’s National Executive Council, for their tremendous support as we work closely with AFAN to further improve and expand Nigeria’s agricultural sector and deliver empowerment and financial upliftment to Nigeria’s farmers.

“It is particularly gratifying to see the Company deliver both technological inclusion and financial inclusion to 6 million new farmers through the lease of our smartphones to AFAN, and their onboarding onto Nwassa. I am confident we will change the lives of these farmers and their families, including through the improvements we can make to their farm’s crop yields, the prices they receive for their produce and also by reducing their post-harvest losses.

“The success of our first harvest on the land we helped cultivate, with the loans and farming inputs we made available earlier this year, is also a significantly important milestone and a valuable proof-of-concept. On the back of this success, we will now work with AFAN to considerably expand the program to cover much larger areas of land and in many more parts of Nigeria.

“It is a very proud moment for me to see the meaningful difference we are making to increase my home country’s levels of food production and towards tackling the world’s food security crisis. At the same time, as we further strengthen our eco-system and continually make improvements, we are making significant real-term improvements in shareholder value, which we are confident will soon be reflected in our share price as we recover from the short-seller attack we suffered earlier this year.”

Farouk Rabiu Mudi, President of AFAN, commented: ‘‘We could not be happier with our relationship with Tingo and the immense support they continue to contribute towards us and our members. The difference Tingo is making to Nigeria’s agricultural sector and our farmers’ lives is immeasurable. We are therefore delighted to adopt Tingo’s Nwassa as our exclusive marketplace platform, especially having seen the benefits it generates for farmers, and we are committed to promoting Nwassa throughout the country. We are also delighted to be making Tingo’s smartphones and services available to another 6 million of our members, as we progress towards our initial target of enrolling 20 million members with Tingo, with the goal to ultimately register all of Nigeria’s estimated 60 million farmers with both AFAN and Tingo. The harvests we are currently working on with Tingo are yet another example of the value their eco-system is bringing to our farmers, and we look forward to rolling out Tingo’s loans and farming inputs program to other parts of the country.”

Ken Denos, Interim Co-Chief Executive Officer of Tingo Group, Inc. commented: “AFAN’s adoption of Nwassa as the exclusive marketplace platform for its members is yet another indicator of the depth of its relationship with Tingo, and the alignment of our collective interests in providing economic and social upliftment and empowerment to millions more of their constituent members. Combined with the financing and farming resources Tingo has provided to AFAN’s members, as well as the deployment of 6 million new smartphones, we are committed to continuing to work with AFAN to strengthen Nigeria’s agricultural sector while maintaining our profitability and growth objectives.”

About Tingo Group

Tingo Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: TIO) is a global Fintech, Agri-Fintech, food processing and commodity trading group of companies with operations in Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Tingo Group’s wholly owned subsidiary, Tingo Mobile, is a leading Agri-Fintech company operating in Africa, with a comprehensive portfolio of innovative products, including a ‘device as a service’ smartphone and a value-added service platform. As part of its globalization strategy, Tingo Mobile has recently begun to expand internationally and entered into trade partnerships that are contracted to increase the number of subscribed farmers from 9.3 million in 2022 to more than 32 million, providing them with access to services including, among others, the Nwassa ‘seed-to-sale’ marketplace platform, insurance, micro-finance, and mobile phone and data top-up. Tingo Group’s other Tingo business verticals include: TingoPay, a SuperApp in partnership with Visa, offering a wide range of B2C and B2B services including payment services, an e-wallet, foreign exchange and merchant services; Tingo Foods, a food processing business that processes raw foods into finished products such as rice, groundnut oil, nut products, wheat, millet and maize; and Tingo DMCC, a commodity trading platform and agricultural commodities export business based out of the Dubai Multi Commodities Center. In addition to its Tingo business verticals, Tingo Group also holds and operates an insurance brokerage platform business in China; and Magpie Securities, a regulated finance services Fintech business operating out of Hong Kong and Singapore, which, as relatively small businesses within the Company, are currently in the process of being reviewed and re-positioned. For more information visit tingogroup.com.

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Turmoil in First Bank As Big Shots Run From Pillar To Post To Save Their Job After  ‘lavish’ party For Ex MD

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14 hours ago

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December 9, 2024

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Folake Ani-Mumuney was allegedly asked to resign as First Bank’s global head of marketing and corporate communications by Femi Otedola, the chairman of the holding company, insiders have revealed.

A top employee of the bank informed us that Otedola was “seriously irked” when he learned that a whopping sum was spent on a send-off party for Adesola Adeduntan, the former MD of the bank who was reportedly forced to resign over alleged negligence in a N60 billion electronic fraud.

Otedola, insiders said, believed it was “insensitive and wasteful” to throw such a lavish party when the clear direction and mandate of the bank is to recapitalise and reposition the institution from excesses of the past management.

The source also stated that Otedola, who has in recent times developed a reputation for being a “no-nonsense activist investor”, is planning to take more “drastic” decisions and actions to keep First Bank on the track of impeccable banking “devoid of extravagance and waste of shareholders’ resources”, we were told.

This development has sent panic across the top echelon of the Nigeria’s oldest bank, to run from pillar to post in order to save their jobs as nobody knows who is next to be fired or asked to resign honorably in the ongoing clean up process.

The source further said: “We are seeing efforts to plug leakages that have set the institution back over the years.”

The send-off party was held at the Harbour Point, Victoria Island, Lagos, on November 2, in honour of Adeduntan, who was GMD and CEO for nine years until April 2024.

Despite Otedola’s absence, the party had in attendance many dignitaries and top management of the bank.

 

Source: The Cable.

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NAFDAC demands full compliance with sachet, PET bottle alcohol ban

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18 hours ago

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December 9, 2024

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The Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has urged manufacturers and distributors of alcoholic beverages to comply with the ban on sachet and PET bottle alcohol.

She made this appeal while speaking at the News Agency of Nigeria Forum in Abuja, as reported on Sunday.

Emphasising that alcohol in PET bottles has been banned, she warned distributors and retailers to desist from selling and distributing the prohibited products.

Adeyeye referred to the ministerial ban and the agreement signed by the Distillers and Blenders Association of Nigeria in 2018.

The agreement, which introduced a phased withdrawal process, has now reached its final stage to ensure the complete removal of these products from the market.

She explained that NAFDAC stopped registering and renewing licences for such products in 2018, giving manufacturers sufficient time to exhaust their stock and cease production.

She added that enlightenment campaigns and stakeholder engagements have been conducted to encourage compliance with the ban.

Adeyeye expressed concern about alcohol consumption among teenagers and young adults, highlighting that sachets make alcohol cheap and easily accessible, with potentially devastating consequences.

She reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to protecting public health through strict regulatory measures.

The Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has urged manufacturers and distributors of alcoholic beverages to comply with the ban on sachet and PET bottle alcohol.

She made this appeal while speaking at the News Agency of Nigeria Forum in Abuja, as reported on Sunday.

Emphasising that alcohol in PET bottles has been banned, she warned distributors and retailers to desist from selling and distributing the prohibited products.

Prof. Adeyeye referred to the ministerial ban and the agreement signed by the Distillers and Blenders Association of Nigeria in 2018.

The agreement, which introduced a phased withdrawal process, has now reached its final stage to ensure the complete removal of these products from the market.

She explained that NAFDAC stopped registering and renewing licences for such products in 2018, giving manufacturers sufficient time to exhaust their stock and cease production.

She added that enlightenment campaigns and stakeholder engagements have been conducted to encourage compliance with the ban.

Adeyeye expressed concern about alcohol consumption among teenagers and young adults, highlighting that sachets make alcohol cheap and easily accessible, with potentially devastating consequences.

She reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to protecting public health through strict regulatory measures.

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Air Peace Explains The Operating Cost Of A One hour flight Against FCCPC’s False Claims..

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18 hours ago

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December 9, 2024

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Air Peace Ltd. says the operating cost for a one-hour flight exceeds N14 million.

The airline’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), Mrs Oluwatoyin Olajide, disclosed this on Friday in Lagos.

Olajide said that N7 million is required to purchase 4,000 litres of jet A1 (aviation fuel), currently sold for N1,400 per litre.

She added that for Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance (ACMI), the airline spends about 4,000 dollars for a one-hour flight.

According to the COO, N5 million is required for every one-hour flight, a figure significantly higher than what operators’ counterparts pay globally.

“There are factors that define operating cost and they include aviation fuel which takes between 60 per cent to 65 per cent of the operating cost.

“One litre of fuel is N1,400. If I have to operate a one-hour flight from here to Abuja, Port Harcourt, Owerri, I am going to be using about 4,000 litres of fuel.

“So, on average, a one-hour flight costs N7 million on fuel alone. Also, ACMI costs 4,000 dollars for leasing planes, considering the challenges we are currently facing,” Olajide said.

She explained that, on average, operating a one-hour flight costs N7 million, with an additional N7 million for fuel, bringing the total to N14 million.

She noted that insurance for a one-hour flight costs an additional N5 million.

“For financing, we pay about 30 per cent to borrow money, while foreign airlines pay around three percent. Also, Nigerian airlines pay four times more than others for spare parts,” she added.

According to Olajide, given the operating costs of Nigerian airlines, it is not easy operating with the current airfares.

She emphasised that a one-hour trip within Nigeria should cost no less than N500,000.

Speaking on the recent report of fare exploitation, Olajide said that the allegation had cost the airline a major international slot.

She also clarified that the Federal Consumer and Customer Protection Commission (FCCPC) only invited the airline for enquiry and not investigation as reported by some media.

She said that the Chairman of the Airline, Dr Allen Onyema, honoured the invitation.

She, however, said that FCCPC, could have directed the enquiry to the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the regulator of the airline.

Olajide recalled the airline’s selflessness during COVID-19, Xenophobia and the evacuation of stranded Nigerians from foreign countries at no cost.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the FCCPC had on Dec. 2 written to the airline, inviting them for an enquiry on the complaint of fare exploitation.

The FCCPC later clarified that it was not conducting an investigation into the airline but rather an enquiry, contrary to reports circulated in the media.

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