Thread by @ugodre

Good Evening and Happy Easter.

Welcome to @Nairametrics Corporate News Roundup for the week ended April, 21 2019. BTU by @bluechiptechng

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG As usual, kindly retweet the first tweet on this thread so that others on your timeline can see.

Also, feel free to comment on any of the stories covered on this thread and ask questions if there are areas requiring further clarification. We begin...

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG 1. Dufil Prima Foods Plc, makers of Indomie Noodles, has begun compensating farmers whose lands are part of the hectares acquired by the food company from the Edo State Government.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG The company had acquired 17,954 hectares of land from the Edo State government for palm oil cultivation. The oil palm plantation project will also include an integrated palm oil mill.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG The move is part of the firm’s backward integration process.

Backward integration simply means a company producing its own raw materials.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG Palm oil is a key component for the production of noodles.

This would also make Dufil, the third firm to set up oil palm plantations in Edo State, alongside Presco, and Okomu.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG 2. Moving to the tech space.

Fintech firm, Renmoney, has established mobile experience centres which will move across Lagos.

Each centre, according to the firm has been equipped to handle end to end transactions for customers.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG A few firms have tried this concept, but with varying success. @nairametrics will be on the lookout.

Have you been to any of these centres?

What was your experience?

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG 3. Still in the fintech space,

Farmgate Africa, an agro-commodity aggregator platform and a subsidiary of the Farmcrowdy Group, announced a partnership with Livestock247.com, an online Livestock Market.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG The partnership is divided into two components.

Farmcrowdy, Farmgate's parent company has partnered with Livestock247.com in piloting its first ever cattle feedlot in Adamawa state.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG Farmgate Africa, on its part, is the anchor partner with Livestock247 that will see the firm trading over 20,000 cattle in abattoirs in Lagos this year

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG 4. Moving on to the tech space.

Jobberman co-founder, Ayodeji Adewunmi, has resigned from the firm.

Adewunmi has reportedly decided to pursue a new career in venture investing.

Jobberman was launched in August 2009 and is one of the biggest job sites in Sub-Saharan Africa.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG 5. Payment processor, Paystack, announced a partnership with Lambda School. The two firms will be collaborating on Lambda's first pilot school in Africa.

Applications are open to students from Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG The school is a 9-month full-stack software development training program, at no upfront cost.

Students will learn to program in several languages (including JavaScript, Python, and C).

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG During the program, Paystack will pay for a membership to a co-work space so students can have access to reliable electricity and internet.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG At the conclusion of the program, they also have the chance to be hired by Paystack, and be introduced to the firm’s merchants who may need talent.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG Paystack and Lambda are alumni of the Y Combinator Accelerator programme and have both raised funding from Stripe, an e payment processor.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG 6. E-commerce firm Konga may have made a surprising pivot into the travel space with the launch of Konga Travel.

This totally caught me off guard, but I guess they would have done their homework before launching into a market where firms like Wakanow and Travelbeta operate.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG 7. Tennis Superstar Serena Willams recently unveiled Serena Ventures, an investment fund she founded in 2014 and which she had kept a secret till now.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG The fund owns stakes in several startups including cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, Wave and Andela.

Serena Ventures participated in Andela's Series D fundraise earlier this year through which it raised $100 million.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG The news had me wondering. Do we have any sportsmen and women here involved in the tech space?

What other startups would the fund have invested in?

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG Moving on to the telco space.

8. Spectrum Wireless Communications Limited (SWCL)’s bid to have the sale of, 9Mobile, by Emerging Market Telecommunications Service (EMTS) reversed has hit a bump, as a Federal High Court has dismissed its suit.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG The court upheld EMTS's position that there was no direct shareholding relationship between it and SWCL, to give the firm the right to challenge 9mobile’s sale.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG SWCL's holding is a bit complicated. So follow me carefully.

SWCL took part in a private placement and was allotted 4,041,096 Class A shares of PTHNV, which owns 99% of the shares in MyaCynth.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG MyaCynth, it claimed, owns 30% of the shares of EMTS BV.

EMTS BV reportedly owns 99.9% of the shares of EMTS.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG SWCL had also alleged that EMTS’ syndicated loan was granted without the approval of the CBN.

No word on if the firm will appeal, but the last has definitely not been heard of this case.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG Moving on to the finance space.

9. Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) has secured a $15 million investment from the African Development Bank (AfDB).

The investment comprises a subordinated loan of $10 million and a risk sharing facility of up to $5 million.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG InfraCredit is a specialized infrastructure credit guarantee company, established to enhance local currency debt instruments.

The firm was founded by the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) in collaboration with GuarantCo.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG The Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), and KfW an arm of the German Development Bank have since taken up stakes in the firm.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG 10. Non-interest financial institution, Jaiz Bank, has obtained a N3 billion loan from the Bank of Industry.

The fund would be given as loans to small business operators.

So if you are a business owner, and bank with Jaiz, have a chat with them.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG 11. Hip TV boss Ayo Animashaun has denied media reports that his company had been taken over by Heritage Bank.

Ayo, in a post on his Instagram page, stated that @OFFICIALHIPTV HAS NOT BEEN TAKEN OVER BY ANY BANK. WE ARE OPEN FOR BUSINESS AND RUNNING OUR OPERATIONS AS USUAL…”

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG @OfficialHipTV Animashaun had recently declared his firm’s intentions to drag Heritage Bank Plc to court, over claims that the bank “lied and defrauded” his company.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG @OfficialHipTV Smooth Promotions (HipTV's parent company is asking the court to reverse over N185 million in interest rate and other charges over and above the agreed interest rate and other unwholesome, spurious, unjustifiable, and illegal entries inputted into its account as at February 2017.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG @OfficialHipTV The company also alleged it lost over N533 million due to the failure and refusal of Heritage Bank to insure its property against risk like fire, and or provide information to Smooth Promotions as to insurance despite debiting the firm's account for the insurance premium.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG @OfficialHipTV Still in the banking space,

12. The Asset Management Company of Nigeria has continued with its debt recovery drive.

AMCON obtained a court order allowing to take over MicMerah International Agency, over a N1 billion debt.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG @OfficialHipTV AMCON appointed Chief Tagbo Anieto as receiver/manager over the assets.

The 'bad bank' stated it had been forced to make the move when efforts to resolve the loan with the company's owner Chief Mike Emerah failed.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG @OfficialHipTV On to the power space,

Mojec Meter Assets Management Company, a subsidiary of Mojec International Limited, in partnership with some commercial banks in Nigeria will provide retail financing for prepaid meters.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG @OfficialHipTV 13. This will be in conjunction with its partner DISCOs, namely Ikeja Electric, Eko DISCO, Abuja DISCO, Kano DISCO, Enugu DISCO, Jos DISCO, Ibadan DISCO and Kaduna DISCO, effectively covering about 20 states of the federation.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG @OfficialHipTV The move is part of the Meter Asset Providers (MAP) scheme approved by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC),

MAP, pertains to the provision, supply, installation and maintenance of end-user meters by Meter Asset Providers.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG @OfficialHipTV 14. Last but definitely not the least. This broke a few hours ago.

Aiteo Eastern Exploration & Production Company Limited, an arm of Aiteo Group, has declared force majeure on Nembe Creek Trunk Line (NCTL) in Bayelsa State as a result of a fire incident which occurred today.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG @OfficialHipTV A force majeure is simply circumstances beyond a company's control that exempt it from fulfilling its contractual obligations.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG @OfficialHipTV Aiteo also hinted at possible sabotage In an excerpt from a statement issued today, the firm stated that

This fire may have occurred through an illegitimate, third-party breach of the functionality of the pipeline.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG @OfficialHipTV It, however, gave no timeline as to when the pipeline would come back on stream.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG @OfficialHipTV That's the thread for the week.

Thank you for taking the time to stick through the entire thread.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG @OfficialHipTV Many thanks to @BluechipTechNG for sponsoring this thread every week.

Without them, this thread won't be possible

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If you have any questions pertaining to the thread, feel free to tweet at me or @Nairametrics

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG @OfficialHipTV Until we do this again next week, enjoy the rest of the holidays and have a profitable week ahead.

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