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Nigeria’s ARN Foods partners Canada’s AGI Miltec for rice milling plants

Published

1 month ago

September 7, 2024

One of Nigeria’s commodities trading organisations, A.R.N Foods, is making the move into rice milling and production. To process high-quality rice and increase food security in Nigeria, AGI Miltec, a global provider of grain processing solutions, has teamed up with A.R.N Foods.

Adelota Nola, the founder and CEO of ARN Foods, stated during the contract signing ceremony in Lagos on Friday, that his firm will use AGI Milltec’s cutting-edge solutions to process high-quality rice for the Nigerian market as part of their partnership.

Stressing that the collaboration is a team of experts to drive food sustainability and maximize the agricultural value chain which has remained under-explored in Africa. According to Nola, A.R.N. is taking the lead in finding a solution to the shortage of rice which has proven to be the world’s largest staple in demand.

Also in attendance was the Executive Director at Providus Bank, Mr Adeoye, the Chief Executive Officer of Parallex Bank- Olufemi Bakare, Executives from Lotus Bank, Media mogul Chief Dele Momodu and other top executives, partners and stakeholders.

“The deficit is very large. We can only start from somewhere. If we sleep and say the problems are so much and there is nothing we can do about it, then we will all just continue to sleep. But if we say we can do a little by taking the first step to solving the problem like we are doing today, then someone from somewhere can emulate what we are doing.

“If 100 people try to solve the problem, one day the problem will be solved. We have taken the first step to solving the rice deficit problem in Nigeria,” he said.

Vincent Joseph, the Business Development Manager for AGI in Nigeria, discussed the company’s history and experience that made it suitable for ARN’s ambitious goals. The company has over thirty years of experience operating throughout continents and Africa, and it has constructed over ten mill plants in Nigeria.

“The rice quality we see today is due to two reasons. One is the quality of paddy itself and the second comes from the way it is processed. There are still people over here that are using traditional methodology for processing and the quality of that will not be so good.

“We have 25 years’ experience in the rice milling sector. In Nigeria, we are not new. We know the quality of paddy and the requirements. We would like to bring the same quality to Nigeria. This one has been specifically designed for the Nigerian market and we already know the benchmark that Nola is looking for,” he said.

According to Joseph, the collaboration between the two companies would be smooth because A.R.N. Foods already has backward integration and is processing its rice paddies as the next natural step. He emphasised the solid engineering and financial foundation of AGI Milltec.

He also emphasized that the construction of the mill will be according to the acceptable standards from its parent country – Canada, thus issues around managing emissions from the mill plant will not arise.

Currently, Nigeria produces more rice than any other country in West Africa. The nation consumes more rice than any other country in the region in absolute terms because of its massive population. The average national production of milled rice is 3.3 million tonnes, compared to an anticipated 5.2 million tonnes of yearly consumption. But post-harvest loss remains one of the biggest challenges in the rice farming space, with private investment like ARN geared towards the space, it is yet to be seen if local rice production can become sufficient, and become export goods in the global highly competitive market.

Related Topics:ARN Canada Featured Nigeria Rice

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Fortuna Mining says Burkina Faso won’t scrap permits

Published

13 hours ago

October 9, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The Burkina Faso government does not intend to revoke Fortuna Mining’s current mining permits within the nation, the Canadian company said on Monday.

Ibrahim Traoré, the leader of the Junta, stated on Saturday that Burkina Faso intended to remove some mining permissions from international businesses and work towards increasing local gold production. However, he did not specify which permits would be revoked.

The entire index fell on Monday as shares of gold miners with projects in the West African nation plummeted precipitously at the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Fortuna Mining’s stock was down 9% at 3:25 PM ET (19:25 GMT). The owner of the Bombero gold mine, Orezone Gold Corp., had a 9% decrease on the TSX.

In addition to addressing several subjects on Saturday to mark two years as president, gold producer Endeavour Mining said Traor hinted that some mining permits would be cancelled.

Endeavour asserted that it is unaware of any intentions to cancel any of the company’s mining permits and that the government continues to support the business.

Growing insecurity has made things more difficult in West African country despite its rich mineral resources. ACLED, a U.S.-based crisis-monitoring organisation, asserts that in 2023, over 8,000 individuals lost their lives in the nation, even though the junta promised to suppress groups linked to Al Qaeda and the Islamic State.

Burkina Faso has witnessed a boom in the mining sector since the early 2000s, primarily in the gold but also in the zinc and manganese industries. At the moment, the country is Africa’s fifth-largest producer of gold.

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Nigerian govt begins 2025 retirees’ enrollment

Published

14 hours ago

October 9, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Nigeria’s National Pension Commission has declared that it has formally begun the process of enrolling potential retirees in 2025, highlighting the significance of early planning.

The commission demanded that ministries, departments, and agencies refrain from any last-minute rush that can interfere with the enrolment process and make it more difficult for retirees to adjust to their new stage of life.

At a workshop held by the National Pension Commission on Monday in Abuja to launch the online enrolment process for pension desk officers of MDAs funded by the Federal government’s Treasury for 2024, Omolola Oloworaran, the acting director-general of the commission, revealed this information.

Currently, 7,348,028 people in Nigeria, or 10.58% of the country’s working population, are registered members of the National Pension Scheme. The commission reported that it paid N1.1tn to 129,435 life annuity applicants in the second quarter of 2024, reflecting advances in pension benefits.

During her speech, the acting director general (DG) said that the purpose of this exercise is to gather precise information so that the federal government may evaluate the Accrued Pension Rights of potential retirees and make the appropriate budgetary adjustments.

The commission, she continued, has advanced significantly by automating the enrolment procedure and launching an online enrolment application that makes retiree enrolment, verification, and registration easy.

Oloworaran said, “At the National Pension Commission, we hold firmly to our statutory responsibility of ensuring a seamless pre-retirement verification and enrolment process for employees of Federal Government Treasury-funded MDAs. Each year, we embark on this exercise to gather accurate data for determining the Accrued Pension Rights of prospective retirees, so that the Federal Government can make the necessary budgetary provisions.

“Today’s session is not just a routine gathering; it is part of PenCom’s commitment to building the capacity of stakeholders, specifically you, the Pension Desk Officers, whose roles are indispensable in this process. Since 2021, we have made significant strides by automating the enrolment process, and introducing an Online Enrolment Application that allows seamless registration, verification, and enrolment of retirees.

“This system, comprising the Retiree, MDA, PFA, and PenCom modules, represents the future of pension administration in Nigeria. As PDOs, you are the linchpin in this process, ensuring that retiree information is properly uploaded and verified. Hence, this workshop aims to equip you with the skills and knowledge needed to effectively use the application and address any challenges that arise during the enrolment process. We are also here to confront the issues of the past head-on.”