Wines of South Africa (WOSA) held its seventh Wine Grand Tasting event in Lagos recently.
The annual event which brings together producers of wines from South Africa with lovers or wines, entrepreneurs, distributors, and other tradesmen together to network also celebrates Nelson Mandela Day.
The year’s event began with South African Introductory Wine Course, which is meant to teach people in the hospitality and tourism industry to better understand wines.
Former Education Minister and Vice-President of the World Bank’s Africa division, Oby Ezekwesili has come out against the new Central Bank’s planned policy to restrict foreign exchange to milk importers as a way to boost local production.
Ezekwesili, in a series of tweets from her official twitter handle, described the new CBN plan as policies borne out of vindictiveness.
Diageo Plc, on Thursday, reported on its full-year results for the 2018/2019 financial year ending on 30th June 2019. The spirits maker said it recorded broad-based growth across all regions with sales growing by 5.8% to £12.9bn from £12.2bn in the previous year. The growth was driven by improved price/mix, new product innovations and productivity benefits from everyday cost efficiencies.
Promasidor Nigeria Limited, makers of Cowbell and Loya milk have signed a partnership agreement with the Ekiti State Government as part of its backward integration initiative aimed at creating local sourcing of raw materials for its dairy products through the state-owned Ikun Dairy Farm.
The agreement was signed by Ekiti State Governor, John Kayode Fayemi and the Managing Director of Promasidor Nigeria Limited, Anders Einarsson, in Abuja on Tuesday.
British-based PZ Cussons Plc said it will sell-off non-core brands and simplify its Nigerian business following a 6.8% decline in full year revenue to £689.4 million from £739.8 in the previous year. Pre-tax profits fell 37.5% to £37.0 million, compared to £59.2 million it earned in the previous year.
The group said that macro-conditions in Nigeria were to blame for its poor performance. “A sustained lack of liquidity at both consumer and trade level has resulted in a significant contraction in the size of the market, resulting in lower volumes, prices and margins,” it said.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said it will soon place foreign exchange (forex) restrictions on milk importers into the country.
Speaking to reporters at the end of the bi-monthly Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele expressed sadness that the country spends between $1.2bn and $1.5bn on milk imports yearly.
“We can no longer continue to spend close to $1.2bn to $1.5bn, importing milk into the country, a product we can produce. To some extent, they (milk importers) should help us also to reduce the rate of herders, farmers conflict,” he said.
The Federal Government is said to be considering placing a ban on the importation of milk into the country.
The Central Bank Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, who disclosed this to the media in Abuja on Tuesday following the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, said the Federal Government would soon put restrictions on the importation of milk to the country.
The CBN Governor disclosed that the importation of milk gulps up between $1.2bn and $1.5bn annually, adding that it was unacceptable.
Coca-Cola on Tuesday reported a 6% revenue growth to $10bn for the second quarter of 2019, driven by consumer-centric innovation, solid core brand performance and improved execution in the marketplace.
The company said it continued to gain global value share, which led to an update of its full year guidance for 2019 to 5% organic revenue growth.
Commenting on the results, the CEO of The Coca-Cola Company, James Quincey, said: “Our strategy to transform as a total beverage company has allowed us to continue to win in a growing and vibrant industry.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is said to have concluded plans to restrict foreign exchange availability for dairy imports in a bid to boost local production and investment in ranches.
Sources privy to discussions held between the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele and milk producers said that he told them that foreign exchange would soon be restricted for dairy imports at both the official exchange and parallel markets if they do not invest in ranches, a move he said would reduce the ongoing farmers and herders conflict in the country.
Stakeholders in the livestock and dairy sector have said that government collaboration with dairy processors, universities and other stakeholders is needed to modernise and increase milk production, quality and yield, as well as farming knowledge and competence.
The stakeholders spoke at the 2019 Development Icon Forum (DIF), a policy-research-practice (PoReP) platform of the Development Practice Academy (DEPRA), which held at the University of Ibadan International Conference Centre, Ibadan, Oyo State.
