VenturesNow

Emerging African enterprise, Harvest Group, spreads reach to Zambia, launches filling stations, foundation

Published

2 years ago

September 26, 2022

One of Africa’s emerging conglomerates, Harvest Group of Companies Limited, has made bold its announced plan to expand its business reach by opening a chain of filling stations in Zambia.

The Group, which has business interests across sectors like energy, e-commerce, logistics, hospitality, and infrastructure development had announced that it would open forty filling stations in the East African country by year-end 2022.

Speaking recently at the commissioning of Harvest retail outlet on the International Airport axis in Lusaka, the Group’s chairman, Ugo Ikoro-Ngadi remarked that “Harvest Group is making huge strides that are not only bolstering our bottom line and transforming the Zambian and sub-Saharan African economy but also improving lives of people.”

The chairman, Ikoro-Ngadi further revealed that the group’s commitment to human development has birthed the Harvest Foundation through which it aims “to incubate at least 50,000 small businesses across Africa in the next half decade “through mentoring, knowledge-sharing and financial support.”

“As a responsible corporate entity, we will keep our promises to impact communities around us, especially vulnerable African women and youths” he added.

He also admitted the group’s understanding of the challenges that may lie ahead in its recent quest but reiterated that as perceptive entrepreneurs, they see bright prospects.

“Our convictions are guided by market intelligence which shows Africa’s youths as an emerging powerhouse, and the continent as an investment destination.” He added.

With over $10 million in annual revenue and the capacity to handle other non-oil offerings that are associated with filling stations, Harvest has the vision is to be the most innovative distributor of quality refined petroleum products in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Petroleum products contribute 9.4% to the total national energy demand in Zambia. The country imports all its petroleum products, that is, petroleum feedstock and finished products.

But the distribution line is largely local, a turf which players like Harvest Group of Companies hope to dominate. The products are distributed to various government-owned depots where Oil Marketing Companies lift the finished products and distribute them to their own depots, service stations, and commercial customers.

Zambia’s Minister of Energy, Peter Kapala while speaking at the commissioning in Lusaka, said that the government was keen on reforms in the energy sector and formulation of policies that are targeted at specific areas of interest for the private sector and centred on the ease of doing business.

The minister also mentioned that such investments are products of “deliberate and intentional private sector-supporting policies fully and meaningfully employed” by the government.

Harvest Group’s investment in Zambia is capable of “empowering the mass of underserved African women and vulnerable youths” in the country. The minister added.

VenturesNow

Nigeria received $1bn tax income from Shell in 2023

Published

15 hours ago

May 8, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Shell Nigeria, a multinational oil company, claims that through the operations of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company of Nigeria Limited, it exclusively paid $1.09 billion in corporate taxes and royalties to the Nigerian government in 2023.

According to the numbers released in the recently released 2023 Shell Briefing Notes, SNEPCo remitted $649 million, while the SPDC paid $442 million.

Similar payments made by the two firms in 2022 totalled $1.36 billion, according to a statement from Abimbola Essien-Nelson, the company’s manager of media relations.

“These payments are Shell exclusive and do not include those made by our partners,” said SPDC Managing Director and Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Osagie Okunbor.

Okunbor explained, “Shell companies in Nigeria will continue to contribute to the country’s economic growth through the revenue we generate and the employment opportunities we create by supporting the development of local businesses.”

He continued by saying that Shell has been an investor in Nigeria for more than 60 years and that the Briefing Notes provide an update on the state of the companies’ operations in Nigeria for 2023, including SPDC, SNEPCo, Shell Nigeria Gas, and Daystar Power.

He claimed that the studies demonstrated how the businesses kept driving advancement, collaborating closely with communities and stakeholders to support socio-economic growth and offer more affordable, environmentally friendly energy options.

“It is important to emphasise that Shell is not leaving Nigeria and will remain a major partner of the country’s energy sector through its deep-water and integrated gas businesses. Our collective focus remains on delivery of safe operations and care for our people,” Okunbor maintained.

VenturesNow

Zimbabwe’s new gold-backed currency now official unit of exchange

Published

1 day ago

May 7, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Zimbabwe’s Treasury says that the newly introduced gold-backed currency is the official unit of exchange for transactions. It also stated on Tuesday that laws requiring businesses to utilize the official rate would be released soon.

The Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) has been stable on the official market since its inception in early April, but it has had a shaky start on the black market, where dealers are demanding a premium of 65% of the official rate to purchase dollars.

Additionally, some stores are charging customers who pay in the new currency—while the ZiG is being rejected by informal traders—a premium over the market rate, which is fixed at ZiG 13.6 per US dollar.

“To ensure orderly pricing, the Government will soon be introducing the necessary regulations to ensure that no exchange rate other than the official rate will be used for the pricing of all goods and services,” Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said in a statement.

Since the ZiG’s inception, the government has been working to keep it afloat; this month, officials launched a campaign against unlicensed foreign exchange dealers.

Zimbabwe, located in southern Africa, abandoned the Zim dollar last month after it lost 70% of its value since the beginning of the year. This is the country’s fourth effort to introduce a local currency in ten years.