News
Wobbling economy, inflation, force Guinness’ exit from Nigeria after 74 years
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
Guinness will join a long list of multinationals, like GlaxoSmithKline and Microsoft, that have left Nigeria, citing the harsh economic climate as making business unprofitable.
The brewery brand recorded a staggering N61.9 billion loss after tax between July 2023 and March 2024, just a few months after Mr Tinubu floated the naira in an effort to unify the currency’s value on the official and parallel foreign exchange markets.
But the move backfired and caused many multinational companies to suffer huge financial setbacks including Guinness Nigeria whose N61.7 billion loss after tax in Q3 was a 1,000 per cent decrease from the N5.9 billion profit generated in the same period last year.
The loss exacerbated by the naira’s continued downward trend may have informed Diageo, Guinness’ parent company, to sell its 58.02 per cent majority stake to the Singaporean group.
“Under the terms of an agreement signed today, 11 June 2024, Tolaram will acquire Diageo’s 58.02% shareholding in Guinness Nigeria royalty agreements for the continued production of the Guinness brand and its locally manufactured Diageo ready-to-drink and mainstream spirits brands,” the company said in a statement Tuesday.
Guinness Nigeria Plc, a public limited liability company quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, was incorporated on April 29, 1950, as a trading company importing Guinness Stout from Dublin.
The Guinness brand has operated in Nigeria since 1950, but with Tolaram’s controlling stake acquisition expected to conclude by 2025, the global brewery brand will have spent 75 years in Nigeria.
In the statement, Guinness said the firm would leave Nigeria next year and hand over to a third-party venture.
“The transaction is expected to be completed during fiscal 2025, subject to obtaining the requisite regulatory approvals in Nigeria,” said the statement signed by Abidemi Ademola, Guinness’s legal director.
Diageo, however, stated that the sale of its Nigerian brand would not in any way affect its ownership of the Guinness global brand.
Diageo “will retain ownership of the Guinness brand, which will be licensed to Guinness Nigeria for the long term.”
Diageo’s exit adds to a long list of other multinational companies, like GlaxoSmithKline and Microsoft, that have left Nigeria in the last one to two years, citing the harsh economic climate as making business unprofitable.
Some of Diageo’s popular brands in Nigeria include Smirnoff Ice, Smirnoff Vodka, Orijin Bitters, Malta Guinness, Gordons Orange Sunset, and Dubic Malt.
News
Tinubu fires DG names replacement (photos)
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
President Bola Tinubu has fired Nura Sani Kangiwa as Director-General of the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR).
Recall that Sani Kangiwa was appointed NIHOTOUR DG in September 2020 by former president, Muhammadu Buhari.
Though no official reason was provided for the dismissal, it is possible that his tenure had come to an end.
However, in his place, President Tinubu on Thursday last week appointed Abisoye Fagade as the new Director-General of NIHOTOUR.
Dr. Abisoye Fagade is a marketing communication professional.
He is the founder and managing director of Sodium Brand Solutions.
President Tinubu urged the newly appointed officer to discharge his duties with dedication, patriotism, and excellence.
News
Banditry! Police Officer feared K!lled As Gunmen Attack Lawmaker’s Convoy in Abia State
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
A policeman attached to the member representing Isialangwa North and South Federal Constituency of Abia State, Hon. Ginger Onwusibe has been feared dead.
The incident happened around 9pm at Ubakala Umuahia South.
According to a police source, gunmen dressed in black and wearing police-style armor jackets had blocked the convoy of the House of Representatives member with a Toyota Corolla.
The lawmaker was not in the vehicle when the incident happened but at least two police officers and a driver were in the vehicle.
The gunmen opened fire on the escorts after they identified themselves as police officers.
In the process, a police officer was killed, while another officer was injured. The attackers fled the scene, and the police station at Ubakala responded with gunfire.
Attempts to contact the Abia State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer (PPRO) was unsuccessful. Police sources said officers of the command are on the trail of the suspects it believes are kidnappers.
News
Kwankwaso cries out, says there are plots to colonise north
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
The presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in the 2023 election and leader of the Kwankwasiyya Movement, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has alleged plans from Lagos to colonise the northern region.
Kwankwaso, who made the allegation while delivering a speech during the convocation ceremony of Skyline University, Kano, also claimed that Lagos has been on the way to the issue of emirates tussle in Kano State.
Kwankwaso, a former governor of Kano State, also lamented the avalanche of challenges bedeviling the North, including economic crisis, insecurity, poverty, hunger and different kinds of diseases, saying the situation is not good for the country.
Kwankwaso said, “Let me note our situation here in Kano and indeed northern Nigeria. The emir is just being a stooge at this very difficult time, especially in this part of the country (northern Nigeria).
“Today, we can see very clearly that there is a lot of efforts from the Lagos axis to colonize this part of the country. Today, Lagos wouldn’t allow us to choose an emir, Lagos has to come to the centre of Kano to put their own emir.”
Kwankwaso also spoke on tax collection, saying, “Today, we are aware that the Lagos young men are working so hard to impose taxes and take away our taxes from Kano and this part of the country to Lagos.
“Today, as we have seen, even the telephones that we make or register here in Kano, efforts are there to take all the taxes to Lagos.
“Even our sons and daughters who have brought factories many of them here in Kano and northern Nigeria and even banks, somehow, they are forced to take their headquarters to Lagos because taxes will now have to go to Lagos.”
The former Kano governor also spoke on the disparity between the rich and the poor saying, “We have seen the efforts of some people to make the poor poorer and the rich richer and I believe this is more dangerous.”
Kwankwaso therefore called on the lawmakers from the northern part of the country to wake up and make sure the region is not cheated in any way.
“At this moment, I would like to call all our National Assembly members to keep their eyes open so that they don’t do anything that would cheat the people of northern Nigeria, especially here, Kano.
“We are witnesses to what happened during the first term, 1999 to 2000, where our members of the National Assembly were bribed, were treated into collecting huge sums of money to support offshore in this country. That law put a huge blow into our economy not only here in northern Nigeria but all other states.”
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