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Agric Ministry @ #NCSEnugu2014, Seeks IT Experts Support

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Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) has identified the information and communication (ICT) professionals as critical stakeholders in achieving the nation’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA).

Speaking at a 3-Day national conference organized by Nigeria Computer Society in Enugu (NCS), Mrs. Ibukun Odusote, permanent secretary at FMARD, said the Ministry in the last three years has discovered Nigeria has huge potentials that will grow the economy via agriculture hence the need for ICT experts develop solutions that will spur the sector to a greater height.

Odusote said, “We have the land to cultivate and have food in abundance; we have water to grow fish that can feed the whole of West Africa and beyond.

“We have brains, especially young people that are leaving universities without employment. Thus, it is totally unacceptable that majority of our resources on foreign exchange will be utilized in importing food such as Rice, when we have Rice even in Enugu State, Ebonyi and other parts of the country.

“So, Mr President’s wisdom he started Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) being championed by Honorable Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina and supported by myself, the Permanent Secretary. Our target is to create wealth, create future for our people. By 2015, we would have created 3.5 million jobs. Already, we have created 2.5 million jobs within the three years of ATA”.

Reacting to recent allegations of fertilizer distribution scam leveled against her and some senior officers of the Ministry, she said that ICT apparatuses deployed in the system would vindicate them.

She said, “Recently, there was an alleged fertilizer scam where some people said the Permanent Secretary and officials of the Ministry catered away fertilizer worth N2.4 billion, selling same to neighboring countries and smiling to the bank. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) actually invited me for some questions.

“Our joy is that it is not business as usual at the ministry. We are operating what we call Growth Enhancement Scheme (GES). Under GES, we created an electronic platform that enables farmers to register for even distribution of fertilizers.

“The process has been relieved out of the hands of government; not only that it is being managed by the private sector the e-platform has no human intervention. So, were able to overcome that challenges, because all fertilizer goes out through the Agro Dealers (AD).

“The AD would only have information on their phones; likewise the farmers get information on their phones. When they come to the centre they pay through Point of Sale (PoS). Nigerians will be amazed that even in the hinterlands where it is assumed there is no connectivity; the farmers get information and respond as necessary.

“For those that pay cash, government does not go to them for collections. We get information on our systems. We have a system that updates us on how much farmers have remitted. That will help us know how much government has to pay to the Agro Dealers. When we brought out our records and facts, no body could say anything.

“There are a lot we are doing applying Information Technology (IT). The Minister of Agric has shown much passion about seeing how IT and Agric can work together. For instance, we are partnering Columbian University on a revolutionary test for soil health. The farmers can actually take equipment right to the farm location and test the soil to determine the crop such soil is suitable for. So, the soil doctor is working.

“I am sure we are thinking towards IT for Agric development because the ICT industry has trained us in that direction, we need for collaborations. I want to encourage the young ones in the profession that please, lets begin to think outside the box. We need to do a lot more on the path of electronic application in various sectors.

“The path we want IT in Nigeria go is on local technological advancement. I am pleading with the young ones that the farmers who are using these applications will need access to connectivity. They need skill and infrastructure leverage on IT”.

She added that the trend entails developing IT across board, since all processes in agriculture can be automated.

The Permanent Secretary hinted that each new grounds broken in agriculture is an opportunity for IT to play a key role, yet, Nigeria is yet to optimize these opportunities.

“I therefore urge you, especially members of this great society-Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) to invest in IT-agricultural based ventures,” she said.

 

 


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Public Notice:  QNET Raises Alarm Over Misuse of Corporate Foundation’s Name for Fraudulent Activities in Nigeria

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QNET, a global lifestyle and wellness-focused direct-selling company, has recently become aware of fraudulent activities being carried out in the name of its CSR arm, RYTHM Foundation.

QNET

An individual had set up an office in Port Harcourt in the name of the RYTHM Foundation and was using online ads offering jobs in the foundation.

The incident came to light when a job seeker who had contacted the individual about the job was asked to pay a fee to secure it. Suspicion prompted the job seeker to verify the ad’s legitimacy by contacting the Foundation directly.

QNET promptly reported the incident to relevant authorities, which led to the arrest of the perpetrator. The matter is currently under investigation.

QNET is deeply troubled by the impersonation of the RYTHM Foundation for illicit activities, including fake job offers and other deceptive practices. RYTHM Foundation, QNET, and any of our affiliate companies are not associated with these activities and disavow any connection with the perpetrators. The company is committed to collaborating with authorities to apprehend fraudsters.

QNET warns the public to be vigilant and verify information before engaging in any such commitments.

QNET and any of its other affiliated companies do not offer jobs in exchange for a fee. The company urges the public to report any such job ads via the WhatsApp compliance hotline for Sub-Saharan African markets at +233256630005.

QNET remains dedicated to empowering individuals through life-enhancing products and micro-entrepreneurship opportunities. The company has undertaken educational and public awareness initiatives such as establishing the Direct Selling Disinformation Centre (DSDC) and launching the “Social Awareness Campaign” and “Say No! Awareness Campaign” to protect individuals from scams.

Direct Selling Disinformation Centre – https://www.directsellingdisinformation.org/ Say No Campaign – www.saynocampaign.org.

QNET reaffirms its commitment to maintaining trust with customers, partners, and communities. The company vows to conduct business with sincerity, integrity, and a focus on enhancing lives through its product offerings and entrepreneurial opportunities.

For more information, visit QNET’s website at www.qnet.net or our Africa blog at https://www.qnetafrica.com/


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Remedial Health Unveils New App with Digital POS to power operations for Africa’s Neighbourhood Pharmacies

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Remedial Health, a health tech startup that develops solutions to make Africa’s pharmaceutical value chain more efficient has unveiled an updated version of its customer-facing app, designed to function as an operating system for neighbourhood pharmacies and Proprietary Patent Medicine Vendors (PPMVs) across the continent.

The new app comes with a digital POS terminal to support payment collection, virtual business accounts to receive payments, an in-built barcode scanner feature for recording product sales and store-switch functionality to enable the seamless management of multiple stores, as well as inventory management solutions for restocking and easily identifying short-dated products.

The app also offers comprehensive financial reporting to manage profit and loss, and data analytics to inform decision making.

Despite accounting for 85 per cent of retail medicines sold in Africa’s pharmaceutical industry (projected to reach $70 billion market size by 2030), the absence of bespoke digital tools to manage their unique sales and inventory management needs means neighbourhood pharmacies and Proprietary patent Medicine Vendors (PPMVs) are unable to run their operations as effectively and profitably as possible.

At the same time, the reliance on paper-based inventory and sales management processes means manufacturers have limited empirical insights into customer behaviour to inform their decisions on production and distribution.

The new Remedial Health app has been designed specifically for healthcare businesses in Africa, with tailored features that have been designed to support effective decision making to drive business growth and profitability.

Starting in Nigeria, healthcare businesses can access vetted medicines, and manage their sales and inventory on one easy-to-use platform, freeing up time and capacity to effectively serve their customers and communities.

The app also enables Remedial Health to provide consolidated, real-time data on market behaviour to manufacturers for increased profitability and better decision-making across the value chain.

According to Samuel Okwuada, CEO, and co-founder of Remedial Health, “Neighbourhood pharmacies and PPMVs represent the frontline of healthcare delivery in Africa but they have historically been left to their own devices to figure out how to be efficient and profitable.

“Our mission is to empower these essential service providers with the tools they need to manage day-to-day operations and seamlessly run their practices effectively. We spent a lot of time interacting with our customers in the process of delivering this product and the feedback has been great.

“We are excited by the opportunity to get the app into the hands of pharmacies and PPMVs across the country to support their ongoing success, as well as the health and wellbeing of the nation”.

In 2023, Remedial Health sold more than 300 million individual packs of medicines to 7,500 hospitals, neighbourhood pharmacies and PPMVs across all 36 states of Nigeria.

Its customers also improved their profits by 30 per cent on average, with access to more than 8,000 vetted products at the same, or better than, open-air medicine market prices.

They can also access same-day delivery and leverage inventory financing to minimise cash-flow friction for routine orders and maximise sales opportunities.


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EnterpriseNGR Expands Financial Centres to Three African Countries

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EnterpriseNGR has signed a Memorandum of Understanding to set up the Africa Roundtable of Financial Centres – a chapter of the World Alliance of International Financial Centres, in Mauritius, Morocco and Rwanda.

The MoU, signed recently in Mauritius, brought together EnterpriseNGR, the Economic Development Board of Mauritius, Casablanca Finance City Authority, and Rwanda Finance Limited to foster collaboration, promote investment opportunities, and drive sustainable development within the financial centres of its member countries and Africa at large.ort the exchange of best practices between members, enhance visibility regionally

A statement from EnterpriseNGR said that it was joining forces with the three countries to specifically pursue five key objectives.

These objectives include “Jointly strengthen the competitiveness of financial centres in Africa. Collaborate through projects, research papers, communiques, and events to position the African Continent, demonstrate the myriad of investment opportunities, and showcase the role that financial centres play within the African Continent.

“Conduct joint initiatives to supp and internationally, and provide African financial centres with a unified voice regionally and internationally.

“Facilitate the development of dialogue with major financial centres outside the African Continent and build communication channels with African institutions, including regulators and policymakers, as well as African financial services industry associations, and advocate for regulatory coordination amongst members of the Africa Roundtable to promote cross-border investments and financial services.”

Commenting on this collaboration, the Chairperson of the Africa Roundtable, Mr Ken Poonoosamy, said, “The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding for the Africa Roundtable of the WAIFC represents a pivotal stride in fostering synergy among financial hubs within the African sphere, with the shared objective of catalysing economic advancement across the continent.”

Ms Obi Ibekwe, the Chief Executive Officer of EnterpriseNGR, represented by the Director of Policy & Public Affairs, Mr Lami Adekola, expressed her excitement over the development.

She said, “It is a historic achievement, and EnterpriseNGR fully endorses the Africa Roundtable of the WAIFC and is excited for the immense opportunities it represents for Nigeria and the African continent. Our collaboration with the four African countries promises to bolster financial competitiveness on the Continent and amplify Africa’s global presence.

We will leverage this Roundtable to unlock the full potential of African financial centres to drive prosperity and development for our nations and beyond.”

EnterpriseNGR became a member of WAIFC in 2023 during the WAIFC board meeting hosted by TheCityUK in London.

The MoU, which was signed recently in Mauritius, brought together EnterpriseNGR, the Economic Development Board of Mauritius, Casablanca Finance City Authority, and Rwanda Finance Limited, to foster collaboration, promote investment opportunities, and drive sustainable development within the financial centres of its member countries.

A statement from EnterpriseNGR said that it was joining forces with the three countries to pursue five key objectives.

According to the group, these objectives include “jointly strengthen the competitiveness of financial centres in Africa. Collaborate through projects, research papers, communiques, and events to position the African continent, demonstrate the myriad of investment opportunities, and showcase the role that financial centres play within the African continent”.

It added that it would enable it to “Conduct joint initiatives to support the exchange of best practices between members, enhance visibility regionally and internationally, and to provide African financial centres with a unified voice regionally and internationally.

Facilitate the development of dialogue with major financial centres outside the African Continent and build communication channels with African institutions, including regulators and policymakers, as well as African financial services industry associations, and advocate for regulatory coordination amongst members of the Africa Roundtable to promote cross-border investments and financial services”.

Commenting on the collaboration, the Chairperson of the Africa Roundtable, Mr Ken Poonoosamy, asserted, “The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding for the Africa Roundtable of the WAIFC represents a pivotal stride in fostering synergy among financial hubs within the African sphere, with the shared objective of catalysing economic advancement across the continent.”

Ms Obi Ibekwe, the Chief Executive Officer of EnterpriseNGR, represented by the Director of Policy & Public Affairs, Mr Lami Adekola, expressed her excitement over the development.

She stated, “It is a historic achievement, and EnterpriseNGR fully endorses the Africa Roundtable of the WAIFC and is excited for the immense opportunities it represents for Nigeria and the African continent.

“Our collaboration with the four African countries promises to bolster financial competitiveness on the Continent and amplify Africa’s global presence. We will leverage this Roundtable to unlock the full potential of African financial centres to drive prosperity and development for our nations and beyond.”


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