Mahmood Ahmadu Wins ISAC Award 2016

Mahmood Ahmadu received the Nigerian Economic Development Award in recognition of his efforts and success in developing one of Africa’s leading technology companies and successfully operating his business in over 17 international locations across 10 different time zones.

The award was presented at the international conference of the International Strategic Alliance Committee (ISAC) held on the 4th and 5th of April 2016 at the Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre in Westminster, London.

The special conference titled the Nigerian Mining & Agriculture Investment Summit, attracted high level local and international investors and business people interested in the hugely untapped opportunity in Nigeria’s mining and agriculture sector which is attracting much interest at the moment as the country seeks to diversify from its traditional dependency on oil.

At the conclusion of the very well attended conference, ISAC hosted a glittering Gala Dinner to celebrate and honour some outstanding individuals for their contribution to national development amongst them was entrepreneur and businessman Mahmood Ahmadu.

Ahmadu’s Nigerian Economic Development Award was presented by the Israeli Deputy Ambassador to the UK, Mr EitanNa’eh.

Professor Pat Egbule Develops DATCAP & SFP

Professor Pat Egbule, a lecturer at the Delta State University, Abraka, has developed a youth-based agricultural model, which is designed to guarantee food sufficiency and address the high unemployment rate in the country.

Presenting the model at the inaugural lecture in Abraka, titled “Farms Without Youths: Making Gamblers the Career Farmers,” Pat Egbule urged state governments to apply the model in moping up those he called ‘gamblers’ from the streets.

The model, which he called Dual Approach to Training and Commercial Agricultural Production (DATCAP), and Schools Farm Programme (SFP), becomes imperative in the face of rising population, which makes food security more important to us as a nation now, than ever before.

He said farming has been hampered by severe shortage of new recruits, and will require new entrants over the next decade, to overcome the challenges.

According to him, Nigeria’s food import bill has been exceptionally high, consuming about 1.3 trillion Naira in foreign exchange yearly. He cautioned that if this trend continues, the availability of food in the near future will be more compromised, and Nigeria will be more vulnerable to external influences and other exogenous shocks that may have negative impacts on food production.

Professor Pat Egbule identified the significant increase in the prices of food, arising from low local production, internal conflicts, such as Boko Haram insurgency, and the dwindling oil revenues, as necessitating the participation of youths in any sustainable effort to boost food production.

Egbule posited that the youths hold the key to the sector, if mobilised through agricultural education, youth employment in agriculture and industrial development.

He also stressed that, apart from helping in reducing the problems of ageing farm population, youth economic empowerment through active career choice in agriculture, food production remains the major solution that is germane to youth problems and food insecurity in the country.

Egbule argued that food is man’s basic need and is central to human survival and productivity, adding that the nation’s food needs have to be met before those of security, social recognition and self-actualisation.

He recommended that all institutions offering agricultural education programmes to adopt the model, which he said could increase food production by about 30%.

The don said his years of studies of the subject led to the conclusion that agricultural education and food production are in a state of transition.

He said,

“The maxim that youths are the leaders of tomorrow applies more to agriculture,’ adding that ‘the youthful zeal, energy, strength and industry which are the universal characteristics of youths, are needed to galvanize agricultural production processes for improved productivity.”

4 Nigerian Banks Among 2016 Top 500 Banking Brands Ranking

Four Nigerian banks namely – First Bank of Nigeria, Guaranty Trust Bank, Zenith Bank and United Bank for Africa, have been ranked among the 2016 Top 500 Banking brands.

First Bank of Nigeria Limited has retained its number one banking brand ranking in Nigeria for the fifth consecutive year in the global ranking of banks by The Banker magazine.

According to the 2016 Top 500 banking brands ranking published in the February edition of The Banker magazine of Financial Times Group in conjunction with Brand Finance, London, United Kingdom, First Bank moved up the scale in 16 places from 336th position in 2015 to 320th this year.

A press release from the Country Representative of The Banker magazine in Nigeria, Kunle Ogedengbe, added that three other Nigerian banks also made the ranking.

They are Guaranty Trust Bank, which moved to 389th in the world from 417th in 2015; Zenith Bank that dropped from 388th in 2015 to 392th in 2016; and United Bank for Africa that returned to the ranking in the 447th position. Access Bank that made the ranking at 496th position in 2015 dropped from the 2016 Top 500 Banking brands.

First Bank’s brand value, which is the licensing rate that a third-party would need to pay to use the bank’s brand increased to $322 million in 2016 from $300 million in 2015, while that of Guaranty Trust Bank also increased to $243 million from $213 million.

The 2016 brand value of Zenith Bank increased to $238 million from $235 in 2015, while United Bank for Africa that made a return to the ranking since 2012 has a brand value of $198 million. UBA’s brand value in 2012 was $121 million.

For the ranking’s methodology, Brand Finance obtained brand-specific financial and revenue data; modeled the market to identify market demand and the position of individual banks in the context of all other market competitors; established the royalty rate for each bank; calculated the discount rate specific to each bank, taking account of its size, geographical presence, reputation, gearing and brand rating and discounted future royalty stream (explicit forecast and perpetuity periods) to a net present value which is the brand value.

This approach was used for its being favoured by tax authorities and the courts because it calculates brand values by reference to documented third-party transactions, which can be arrived at through publicly available financial information.

Of the five countries in Africa that made the ranking, Nigeria has the highest brand value increase of $249 million. Egypt moved up by $239 million; Togo gained $134 million while South Africa and Morocco lost $878 million and $213 million respectively.

Globally, Wells Fargo of the United States of America retained the number one banking brand in the world for the fourth consecutive year and was followed by banks in China and United Kingdom in the first 10. Wells Fargo’s brand value for 2016 is $44.1 billion from $34.9 billion in 2015.