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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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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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N3bn Fraud Trial: Court permits Yahaya Bello’s accused nephew to travel abroad

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The Federal High Court in Abuja has permitted an accused nephew of former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello to travel to the United Kingdom for medical attention.

 

To enable the defendant, Ali Bello, to embark on the foreign medical trip, the court ordered the release of his passport seized from him as part of his bail conditions.

 

Obiora Egwuatu, the trial judge, issued the order on Monday, overruling the objection of the prosecution agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to grant the accused person’s request.

 

He said the prosecution failed to present convincing evidence to back its claim that Ali would jump bail or tamper with evidence if allowed to embark on the medical trip.

 

He said he had no reason to believe Ali would jump bail, having fulfilled previous undertakings to return to Nigeria to continue his trial on two separate occasions.

 

“Since the grant of bail, he has not breached the terms of bail and has been coming to court to stand his trial.

 

“It is not controverted that this court had on two previous occasions granted the applicant similar prayers.

 

“On those two occasions, that is, between the 1 to 31 August 2023 and 17 December 2023 and 10 January 2024, the applicant did not breach the terms of the permission granted,” the judge said.

 

Stressing the need to ensure a defendant is healthy to stand trial, the judge said, “I wholeheartedly subscribe to the view that a defendant should be alive to stand trial” and face the consequences of his crime if found guilty.

 

Mr Egwuatu ordered the court’s deputy chief registrar who keeps Ali’s passport to release it to him, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

 

He also ordered the defendant to return the passport on or before 15 September.

 

Series of charges relating to Kogi funds

Ali and three others are standing trial on money laundering charges involving N3 billion allegedly diverted from the Kogi State coffers during former Governor Bello’s tenure.

 

The three co-defendants in the case are Abba Adaudu, Yakubu Siyaka Adabenege and Iyadi Sadat.

 

The case is only one in a series of prosecutions the EFCC brought against Ali, Mr Bello and their associates over their alleged fraudulent handling of Kogi State Government’s funds.

 

Ali and a co-defendant, Dauda Sulaiman, are charged with money laundering in another case involving the alleged diversion of N10 billion of Kogi State’s funds. The case is before a different judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja, James Omotosho. The prosecution has already called seven witnesses in the trial.

 

Mr Bello, the former governor, faces money laundering charges involving an alleged diversion of Kogi State’s N80 billion in a separate case before Mr Omotosho. Both Ali and Mr Suleiman are named as accomplices in the case.

 

EFCC brought the charges against Mr Bello after completing his two terms of eight years as governor in January but has been unable to get him to court for arraignment.

 

Since April, Mr Bello has shunned six court sessions scheduled for his arraignment, which has now been rescheduled for 25 September.

 

Ali’s medical trip request

On 5 April, Ali filed an application in the trial before Mr Egwatu seeking an order to release his passport from the deputy chief registrar of the court to enable him to travel abroad for medical consultation and examination.

 

He said the trip was to fulfil a routine cardiologic follow-up to review his medication and undergo cardiac tests.

 

He said he received medical advice to undergo the process annually.

 

He also recalled that the judge had granted him similar permissions to embark on the foreign medical trip on two occasions – first between 1 and 31 August 2023 and second between 17 December 2023 and 10 January 2024.

 

He said he returned to Nigeria on both occasions and returned his passport to the court’s deputy chief registrar as he was ordered to.

 

He pleaded with the judge to order the release of his passport again, undertaking to return it to the official upon his return from the UK to Nigeria.

 

The defendant also gave an assurance to be law abiding in the UK.

 

EFCC opposes request

The EFCC opposed the application.

 

Arguing against the request in court, EFCC’s prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, a SAN, cited a five-paragraph counter-affidavit detailing reasons for the commission’s objection. An EFCC official, Abubakar Salihu Wara, swore to the facts in the document on 19 April.

 

Mr Oyedepo argued that Ali failed to place any medical report before the court to show the health condition that necessitated the medical appointment.

 

Mr Oyedepo said Exhibit ‘A’ attached to the application did not disclose the email address of the sender and the receiver of the said medical appointment.

 

He added that the applicant did not present anything to show that Exhibit ‘A’ emanated from the London Centre for Advanced Cardiology as claimed.

 

He argued that Ali might tamper with evidence gathered for his prosecution if his application is granted.

 

However, Ali filed a further affidavit to dispute the prosecution’s claims.

 

Ruling

Apart from banking on the reputation Ali had earned by fulfilling his promises to return to Nigeria when granted the foreign trip permissions on two previous occasions, the judge also ruled that EFCC’s reasons for objecting to the request were not convincing.

 

Mr Egwatu held that EFCC failed to show that the name of the London hospital Ali planned to visit and its address “are not in existence”. He said there was no contrary evidence disputing the fact that the applicant “has a scheduled appointment with the said cardiologist.”

 

According to him, there was also no evidence presented by the EFCC to show that while Ali was on bail, he did or attempted to interfere with evidence or collude with any person to tamper with evidence.

 

The judge further said that a defendant ought to be healthy to stand the rigours of trial.

 

Former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor Godwin Emefiele, facing multiple corruption trials, recently applied to the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, to seek medical attention in the UK, but the court rejected the request.

 

The judge in the case upheld EFCC’s objection, which was argued by Mr Oyedepo, the same prosecutor in Ali’s trial.

 

(NAN)

 

 

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Reps ask FG to suspend NMDPRA boss over anti-Dangote refinery comment

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The House of Representatives has called on the Federal Government to suspend the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Farouk Ahmed, pending the conclusion of the investigations of allegations against what it called the unguarded statement by the CEO.

 

The resolution of the House followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by the member representing Esosa Federal Constituency, Edo State, Esosa Iyawe, during Tuesday’s plenary on the need to address issues arising from Farouk’s utterances about the nation’s local refineries.

 

The lawmaker reminded his colleagues that claims of adulterated fuel in the Nigerian market must be thoroughly investigated, stating that fuel quality can impact engine hardware.

 

This he said, is the reason ultra-low sulphur diesel is recommended for all types of power plants, storage tanks, industrial facilities, fleets and heavy equipment, and even ships, as high sulphur content in fuels, causes damage to engines and contributes to air pollution.

 

He said considering the various risks associated with sulphur, countries across the world have taken steps to regulate it by setting standards that require maximum reduction of emissions of this chemical compound, which diesel producers are expected to adhere to.

 

The Labour Party lawmaker, however, noted that the NMDPRA permits local refiners to produce diesel with Sulphur content of up to 650 parts per million until January 2025, as approved by the Economic Community of West African States.

 

He quoted the NMDPRA boss as saying that the diesel produced by the Dangote Refinery is inferior to the ones imported into the country and that their fuel had a large content of sulphur, which he put at between 650 to 1,200 ppm.

 

 

“In their defence, Dangote called for a test of their products, which was supervised by members of the House of Representatives, wherein it was revealed that Dangote’s diesel had a Sulphur content of 87.6 ppm (parts per million), whereas the other two samples diesel imported showed sulphur levels exceeding 1800 ppm and 2000 ppm respectively, thus disproving the allegations made by the NMDPRA boss.

 

 

“Allegations have been made that the NMDPRA was giving licences to some traders who regularly import high-sulphur content diesel into Nigeria, and the use of such products poses grave health risks and huge financial losses for Nigerians.

 

“The unguarded statements by the Chief Executive of the NMDPRA, which has since been disproved, sparked an outrage from Nigerians who tagged his undermining of local refineries and insistence on the continued importation of fuel an act of economic sabotage, as the imported products have been shown to contain high levels of dangerous compounds.”

 

He condemned what he called the careless statement by Farouk, noting that “Without conducting any prior investigation, he was not only unprofessional but also unpatriotic, especially in the face of the recent calls for protest against the Federal Government.”

 

Recall that a joint committee of the House on Monday, July 22, 2024, commenced investigations into Farouk’s allegations against Dangote Refinery.

 

The panel, made up of the Committees on Petroleum (Downstream and Midstream) is also conducting a legislative forensic investigation into “The presence of middlemen in crude trading and alleged unavailability of international standard laboratories to check adulterate

d products”, among others.

 

 

 

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Democrats Raise Over $40 Million Online Following Biden’s Presidential Race Exit

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In a remarkable display of financial support, Democrats raised more than $40 million online following President Joe Biden’s announcement that he would be exiting the presidential race. This surge in donations, which occurred on Sunday, marked the most significant single day of online contributions for the Democratic Party since the 2020 election.

According to a New York Times analysis of ActBlue’s online contribution tracker, the wave of donations began shortly after President Biden’s withdrawal and coincided with Vice President Kamala Harris gaining momentum in the nomination race. Prior to Biden’s announcement, donations were averaging less than $200,000 per hour. However, within just one hour after the news broke, donations soared to $7.5 million.

The ActBlue platform processes contributions for various Democratic candidates and causes, not limited to Biden or Harris. It includes donations to Democratic House and Senate candidates as well as political nonprofits. The overall increase in donations highlights the unified support within the party during a pivotal moment.

Kenneth Pennington, a Democratic digital strategist, expressed his enthusiasm on X (formerly Twitter), stating, “This might be the greatest fundraising moment in Democratic Party history.” The previous record for single-day donations on ActBlue was set after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in September 2020, with approximately $73.5 million processed. Sunday’s donations, reaching over $50 million by the end of the day, made it one of the platform’s most successful days ever.

The influx of contributions comes at a critical time for the Democratic Party, which has been grappling with internal conflicts and a need to regain momentum in the race aga inst former President Donald J. Trump. Fundraising had significantly slowed among major Democratic donors following President Biden’s underwhelming debate performance, but his departure from the race seemed to galvanize the party’s base.

Biden’s exit and his endorsement of Vice President Harris appeared to unify Democratic supporters, resulting in a dramatic spike in contributions. As Harris builds momentum to secure the nomination, the financial backing will undoubtedly play a crucial role in her campaign.

President Biden’s withdrawal had been anticipated by many, although the timing came as a surprise. He announced his decision while recovering from Covid at his Delaware beach house. In a letter posted on X, Biden reflected on his presidency, calling it the “greatest honor of my life.” He emphasized that stepping down was in the best interest of the party and the country, allowing him to focus on his duties for the remainder of his term.

Biden’s endorsement of Harris was swift and unequivocal, with his campaign quickly rebranding to “Harris for President.” Prominent Democrats and potential rivals, including California Governor Gavin Newsom, promptly voiced their support for Harris.

The surge in donations following Biden’s exit signifies a critical juncture for the Democratic Party. With substantial financial resources now at their disposal, the party aims to leverage this momentum to overcome recent challenges and strengthen their position in the upcoming election.

 

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