Business
Coca-Cola’s Catalyst for Change Programme Empowers 10,000 women
By Edozie Obasi-Eze
In a quest to improve the lives of underserved women across diverse communities, The Coca-Cola Foundation-funded women empowerment initiative, Catalyst for Change, implemented by a local NGO partner, Karis and Eleos Hand of Hope Foundation, has successfully empowered another batch of 1,000 women in Alimosho, Lagos State.
This makes it a total of 10 communities reached under the scheme with over 10,000 women impacted. The initiative focused on providing business and vocational skills to help lift them out of poverty and marginalization, and finally over 2,000 women provided with start-up kits to help kick-start their small-scale enterprises – 200 of which received start-up kits at the Alimosho closing ceremony.
The Catalyst for Change Scheme is one of Coca-Cola’s several women empowerment and youth development initiatives where women are trained in some essential vocational skills such as pastry making, shoemaking, fashion designing, makeup artistry, wig making, tie and dye, household essentials, and bag making. Some participants were also provided with financial literacy and business management classes around bookkeeping, personal and product branding, social media management, and customer relationship management.
According to the Director, Public Affairs, Communications, and Sustainability, Coca-Cola Nigeria, Nwamaka Onyemelukwe, the beneficiaries of the programme are expected to use the skills garnered therefrom to, not only better their personal economic status but to contribute their quota to the economic development of the country.
She highlighted that the company remains focused on women empowerment because of its belief that women are pillars of society and community as reflected in the company’s new Africa sustainability platform, JAMII, which focuses on waste management, water stewardship and wealth creation for women and youths.
She said, “The goal of the just concluded Catalyst for Change 2.0 programme was to integrate underserved women into a growth trajectory that generates value for their families and society and The Coca-Cola System is thrilled about the outcomes and impact stories so far. I am confident that this batch of beneficiaries will attain an even better degree of achievement as they launch out with the skills and support received through the programme”.
Founder, Karis and Eleos Hand of Hope Foundation, Bukola Bamiduro, advised the beneficiaries to continuously create value in their communities through the application and transmission of knowledge while uplifting themselves and others, thereby leading to the formation of a cycle of transgenerational businesses.
Bamiduro said, “The last 10 months have been exciting for us. This is a mini-closing ceremony for Alimosho but this also marks the end of Catalyst for Change 2.0. We have seen the income of our beneficiaries move from $1 per day to $10 per day”.
She thanked The Coca-Cola Foundation for financially supporting the project, saying she hopes to continue to hear inspiring stories from the various beneficiaries across the ten communities reached during the Catalyst for Change programme.
A beneficiary from the Alausa community, Nofisat Adenike, explained that the Catalyst for Change 2.0 programme has changed the way she sees life and business as she has moved on to establish her baking business. This and more remain the success stories of the women who have gone through the programme, taking great learnings and inspiration from their facilitators and coaches.
For Coca-Cola, women empowerment and bridging the gap of opportunities are essential for achieving an inclusive and sustainable society positioned for economic growth. Since 1984, The Coca-Cola Company has contributed more than $1.2 billion to help empower women, protect the environment, and enhance communities, socially and economically, around the world.
. . . Tinubu Lauds NNPC Ltd, Partners Over Three Commissioned Gas Projects
In line with its renewed hope agenda, the Federal Government has reiterated determination to utilize Nigeria’s abundant gas resources towards revamping her industrial growth and kick-starting economic prosperity.
Biztellers reports that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu made the assertion while commissioning three critical gas infrastructure projects executed by the NNPC Limited and its partners in Ohaji-Egbema, in Imo State and Kwale, in Delta States, on Wednesday.
The three projects commissioned include the expansion of the AHL Gas Processing Plant, the ANOH Gas Processing Plant and the 23.3km ANOH to Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben (OB3) Custody Transfer Metering Station Gas Pipeline Projects.
He said, “It is pleasing that approximately, 500MMscf of gas in aggregate would be supplied to the domestic market from these two Gas Processing Plants, which represents over 25% incremental growth in gas supply.
“In practical terms, this translates into more gas to the Power Sector, Gas-Based Industries, and other critical segments of the economy.”
The President pointed out that from the onset, his administration was clear of its intention to leverage on the virtually unlimited capacity of gas to deepen domestic gas utilization, increase national power generation capacity, revitalize industries, and create multiple job opportunities for economic growth.
He said aside the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Initiative which is aimed at moving Nigerians away from petrol and diesel as vehicular combustion fuel, significant progress has also been recorded in incentivizing gas development through Presidential Executive Orders.
While congratulating the projects partners (NNPC Limited, Sterling Oil Exploration & Energy Production Company Limited (SEEPCO) and Seplat Energy for the successful implementation of the three projects, Tinubu particularly charged the NNPC Limited to, as the national energy company of choice, sustain its relentless efforts and record more successes in the energy sector for the benefit of all Nigerians.
President Tinubu described the commissioning as a highly significant milestone for Nigeria as it demonstrates his administration’s efforts to accelerate the development of critical gas infrastructure geared at enhancing the supply of energy to boost industrial growth and create employment opportunities.
He said the projects were fully in line with the Federal Government’s Decade of Gas initiative, and his administration’s quest to grow value from the Nation’s abundant gas assets while concurrently eliminating gas flaring and accelerating industrialization.
“I wish to assure the citizenry that these are just the beginning, as the federal government is stepping up its coordination of other landmark projects and initiatives that will ensure the earliest realization of gas fueled prosperity in our country.
“Consequently, I wish to assure investors in the energy space that this is an investment enabling government and we will not relent in facilitating the ease of doing business,” the President noted.
Earlier in his address, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas) Rt. Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo highlighted the efforts of his ministry to continue to champion the utilisation of gas as a transition fuel as Nigeria moves towards achieving clean energy efficiency and security by 2060.
Ekpo commended the President for his leadership and support towards the success of the three projects.
In his remarks, the GCEO NNPC, Mele Kyari described the commissioning as a demonstration of Mr. President’s commitment and support to grow the domestic utilization of natural gas for power generation, as feedstock for gas-based industries and overall rapid industrialization of Nigeria on the back of the enormous gas resources in the country.
Kyari assured that as part of its mandate, NNPC Ltd remains committed to maintaining energy security by executing more strategic gas projects for the benefit of Nigeria.
The Nigerian Government has listed her April 2024 Savings Bonds worth N4.214 billion on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) platform.
This was disclosed in the market bulletin signed by the Head, Issuers Regulation Department of NGX, Godstime Iwenekhai.
According to the bulletin, “Trading License Holders are hereby notified that the April 2024 Issue of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) Savings Bonds was listed on Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) on May 13, 2024.”
Details of the Bonds include FGS April 2026, 1.228 million units valued at N1.228 billion at a coupon rate of 17.046%, while FGS April 2027, 2.986 million units amounted to N2.986 billion at a coupon rate of 18.046%.
The bonds are backed by the full faith and credit of the FGN and charged upon the general assets of Nigeria, according to the debt office.
FGN Savings Bond is issued monthly in tenors of two and three years with quarterly payment of coupons (interest) at a rate predetermined and published by the DMO every month.
The retail savings bond product was introduced by the DMO on behalf of the FGN in 2017 to democratise its activities in the bond market by making it easily accessible to Nigerians to ensure continuous development of the domestic market and bridge infrastructure deficit which has been a constraint to economic growth.
Nigeria’s inflation rate surged to 33.69% in April 2024, up from 33.20% in March, according to the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, released Wednesday, shows a 0.49 percentage point rise within a month.
Year-on-year, the inflation rate has surged by 11.47 percentage points, compared to 22.22% in April 2023, highlighting the ongoing economic challenges and rising costs for consumers.
The report reads “In April 2024, the headline inflation rate increased to 33.69% relative to the March 2024 head line inflation rate which was 33.20%.
“On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 11.47% points higher compared to the rate recorded in April 2023, which was 22.22%.
This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in the month of April 2024 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., April 2023).
“Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in April 2024 was 2.29%, which was 0.73% lower than the rate recorded in March 2024 (3.02%).
“This means that in the month of April 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level is less than the rate of in crease in the average price level in March 2024.”
Prices of food and basic commodities have surged dramatically in recent weeks, as Nigerians grapple with a soaring cost of living and one of the nation’s most severe economic crises.
The crisis has been intensified by the government’s removal of petrol subsidies and the unification of forex windows.
The naira, which had appreciated against the dollar in April, has since plummeted from about N1,100/$1 to roughly N1,500/$1.
Following the latest inflation report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is anticipated to review the country’s interest rate, currently set at 24.75%.
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