Akokwa':s Day of Glory in Lagos

 Akokwa's Day of Glory In Lagos

By Ingram Osigwe 

The venue was exquisite. The ambience was cosy. And the event is gay and grand. Indeed,  Saturday,  February 17th,  2024 was a day to remember. It was a day the ancient kingdom of Akokwa was honoured and beamed live to the world, through the instrumentality of one of its illustrious sons,  Chief Celestine Ebubeogu ( Ide Akokwa),  Chairman, Tiger Foods Industries Limited,  makers of the finest brands of food spices.

Term it Akokwa's Day of Glory and you won't be wrong for that was indeed what it was at the Eko Hotels and Suites, the venue of the 21st Sun Newspaper Awards where Chief Ebubeogu was conferred with the Sun Newspaper Industrialist of the Year Award. The Award was in recognition of Chief Ebubeogu's contributions to industrialization and job creation in the country via Tiger Foods' massive backward integration policy and broadening of its marketing and production frontiers.

As Ide's citation was being read, heads bowed in awe, mouths murmured in appreciation and hands clapped in admiration: Right there at the Eko Hotel and Suites, amidst pomp and pageantry and in the full glee of live TV cameras beamed around the world, Akokwa was described as a land of patriotic industrialists and job creators who have done so much to provide employment to unemployed Nigerians. 

Chief Ebubeogu who was unavoidably absent and was represented by Tiger Foods Managing Director,  Don Ebubeogu,  shared the Award category with two industrialists namely former Minister for Industry and Master Energy boss, Dr Uche Samson Ogah and Chief James Uzuh(Omeiheukwu),  Chairman,  J - Jumac  International Company Ltd.

In his speech,  the elated Chief Ebubeogu thanked consumers ofe Tiger Foods brands for their loyalty and patronage over the years;  he also expressed immense gratitude to the Sun Newspapers for the Award,  noteing that the honour would go a long way to spur him to do more for humanity and Nigeria.

In a show of strength, conviviality and brotherhood hundreds of eminent sons and daughters of Akokwa across Nigeria emptied into the Eko Hotel and Suites to celebrate and rejoice with one of their own.

Some of them include  Principal Partner, Maple Partnership law firm, Barr Oke

y Muomalu, Chairman Panda Hotel & Suites Lagos , Chief Willie Obi, CEO Golden Destiny Hotel Chain Lagos , Chief Isreal Orjiekwe, Chairman, Koil Nig Ltd, Chief Luke Okeke,

Chairman, U Frank Nig Ltd, Chief Uche Offor, MD, Full page Comm Ltd, Chief Ingram Osigwe and CEO Mega Maritime Services Chief Ifeanyi Ikejiaku among numerous others. 

Similarly, friends of Ide Akokwa from neighouring towns came in solidarity. 

Such was Chief Abraham Ikechukwu Otti( Mighty Mighty), an Umuchu,  Anambra state born and Port harcourt based businessman &  philanthropist. 

Incorporated over two decades ago as Spices Manufacturing Company,  Tiger Foods,  with Ebubeogu's strategic managerial skill, has not only cemented its status as a driving force in the food industry but has also set an unparalleled standard of excellence and innovation in the industry.

Industry watchers opine that Tiger Foods has soared higher, even beyond the imagination of the founders. With strategic vision, Tiger Foods has successfully grown into a prominent and respected brand within the food industry and among consumers.

It's worth mentioning that Tiger Foods sources most of its raw materials locally thus proudly producing made-in-Nigeria brands.

The company has a robust backward Integration Program spanning the length and breadth of Nigeria which has ensured that it now boasts of a processing capacity of 10,000 Metric tons of raw material annually.

The darling of consumers, Tiger Foods' products, widely circulate in many African countries where they are exported. 

Beyond Africa, the company is now on the cusp of opening new frontiers in the USA and UK following hot demands.

A galaxy of other Awardees and guests who graced the colourful Sun Awards include the President/CEO of Pwan Group Dr Jayne Onwumere who received the Sun Investor Of The Year Award alongside other top dignitaries from sectors of the economy like Aliko Dangote (Dangote Group), Innocent Chukwuma (Innoson Motors), Tony Elumelu (UBA Bank).

Other awardees and guests include Peter Mbah (Governor of Enugu State), Dapo Abiodun (Governor of Ogun State), Mohammed Yahaya (Governor of Gombe State), Olufolake Abdulrazaq (First Lady of Kwara State), Peter Obi (LP Presidential Candidate), HRM Obama Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojájá II (Ooni of Ife), His Majesty Ogiame Atuwatse III (Olu of Warri), Uma Ukpai (founder/President) Uma Ukpai Evangelical Association), Femi Bakre (MD/CEO Parallex Bank), Moruf Oseni (MD/CEO Wema Bank), Gbenga Komofe (MD/CEO Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission), Adaora Umeoji (Deputy Managing Director Zenith Bank), Pharm Uche Nwana, CEO, Sylken Nig Ltd, Lady Adaeze Chukwudozie, Vice Chairman of the Dozzy Group, Ngozi Ezeonu (Nollywood Actress) and a host of others

Ingram Osigwe, The CEO, Full Page Comm Ltd.

I will iPost you soon!

 I will iPost you soon!

It is incredible that since I have been investing in the development of my iPost, not a single member of my family or relations and none of my  friends and none among those who claim to know me has asked me for the status update on it. They are totally clueless about the present status and this clearly shows how ignorant they are of my state of mind and stream of consciousness, including those who have slept in the same bed with me. Their intellectual ignorance of my preoccupation is shocking.

They only talk about the critical situation of my current lack of money and debts of owing over N280, 000 which is less than US$500 for the first time since I was born and I am 59, with a debt free duly Incorporated digital media company with a corporate bank account with Access Bank Plc.

As I speak I have become homeless and surviving by the grace of Almighty God through the kindness of few people, including members of my family, confidants and well wishers. 

No greatness comes without great trials.

Only key members of the Nigerian tech community and global tech startups community are asking for updates and setting up both physical and virtual meetings for me with funders and investors such as Techstars. 

#God #grace #support #kindness #great #development

#ipost #Tech #mobileapp #Startups #corporate #digital #homeless #funding #investors #investment #Techstars #greatness #virtual #Nigeria #global #friends #family #members #ignorance #debts #bank #depression #trauma

Ecobank Group Named 2021 African SME Bank of the Year

 PRESS RELEASE

Ecobank Group Named 2021 African SME Bank of the Year

The African SME Bank of the Year award 2021 recognises the bank which has significantly contributed to the development of the SME sector

LOMé, Togo, June 30, 2021/ -- The Pan-African banking group, the Ecobank Group (www.Ecobank.com), is the African Banker’s 2021 African SME Bank of the Year.

Ecobank beat a host of other banks in the African Banker Awards 2021 to take home the SME Award in a 2020 tumultuous year characterised by the Covid-19 pandemic which continues to ravage many African economies, with Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) taking the greatest hit.

Among other criteria, the African SME Bank of the Year award 2021 recognises the bank which has significantly contributed to the development of the SME sector, thus helping them to build the economic backbone of the continent. Part of the entry criteria required that the winning bank has significantly catalysed funding into the private sector in Africa and promoted enterprise development by facilitating credit and access to finance for SMEs.

Since the onset of Covid-19, the Ecobank Group has considerably ramped up investments in programmes targeting SMEs by expanding SME-focused lines of credit, providing technical assistance to SME development institutions and building SMEs’ capacity via linkage programmes in partnership with its strategic partners. The Group has been at the forefront of promoting gender inclusion and closing the gender finance gap through innovative initiatives such as ‘Ellevate by Ecobank’ that targets women-led and women-focused businesses across the continent.

Ecobank Group Executive, Commercial Banking, Josephine Ankomah, said “2020 was a year of unprecedented challenges on account of the Covid-19 pandemic. It required resilience and innovation. We needed to rethink our business and provide innovative ways to assist our SME customers to help them to survive the difficulties brought about by the pandemic. We are truly honoured to receive this recognition. Our immense gratitude goes to our staff, customers and partners who have made this possible.”

Some of the measures taken by the Bank to support SMEs in 2020 include:

Proactively instituting mitigating actions, including tenor extensions and moratoriums on interest, to assist SMEs to manage their loan repayments;

Increasing the utilisation of digital channels, such as Ecobank Omni Lite, to provide customers with capabilities to make payments remotely and conveniently;

Upskilling staff to ensure their capacity to help develop the SME sector;

Collaborating with existing risk sharing partners, particularly Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), to share a portion of the risk associated with our lending to the SME sector;

Partnering with tech giant Google to provide SME customers with the means to develop free online presence through the Google My Business platform;

Collaborating with the African Union’s Development Agency - AUDA-NEPAD - to focus on strengthening Africa’s support for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and assist their recovery from the impact of the pandemic by empowering MSMEs with access to capabilities, markets and finance, so that they can play a pivotal role in restarting Africa’s economies;

Launch of ‘Ellevate by Ecobank’ which is a women-owned and women-focused product offering women an end-to-end partnership, through which they gain access to both financial and non-financial services such as financial education, product information, networking and recognition; and

Growing the number of merchants using Ecobank’s point-of-sale (POS) terminals from 5,571 to 15,878, in addition to attracting significant onboards onto EcobankPay, our flagship QR collections platform, from 180,060 to 248,664.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ecobank.

Media Contact:

Christiane Bossom

Group Corporate Communication Manager

Email: groupcorporatecomms@ecobank.com

Tel: +228 22 21 03 03

About Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (‘ETI’ or ‘The Group’):

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (‘ETI’) is the parent company of the Ecobank Group, the leading independent pan-African banking group. The Ecobank Group employs over 14,000 people and serves about 29 million customers in the consumer, commercial and corporate banking sectors across 33 African countries. The Group has a banking license in France and representative offices in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Johannesburg, South Africa; Beijing, China; London, the UK and Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. The Group offers a full suite of banking products, services and solutions including bank and deposit accounts, loans, cash management, advisory, trade, securities, wealth and asset management. ETI is listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchanges in Lagos, the Ghana Stock Exchange in Accra, and the Bourse Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières in Abidjan. For further information please visit www.Ecobank.com.

SOURCE

Ecobank