In the celebration of ‘Detty’ December 2023, Smirnoff took the center stage at three of the biggest music festivals in Lagos; Empire Warehouse, Nativeland Festival and Asake Live in Concert.
These events provided an unmatched platform for consumers to revel in the thrill of live performances and the infectious energy that defines Smirnoff events.
Revellers were immersed in the world of Smirnoff with Instagramable photobooths, exciting Smirnoff cocktails, Smirnoff Merchandize stands, tattoo station and epic performances by an array of hot-in-culture artists including, Asake, Olamide, Ayra Star, Odumudo Blvck, Bloody Civilian, Shallipopi as well as DJs, Uncle Waffles, DJ Titanium.
‘Smirnoff is renowned for its commitment to innovation, quality, and delivering unrivalled experiences.
Our partnership with these hot-culture-platforms showcases Smirnoff’s unwavering dedication to providing immersive consumers experiences, one sip at a time.’ said Abi Ipaye, Senior Brand Manager, Smirnoff.
Shell has begun hundreds of layoffs, sources with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg, as the supermajor looks to create more value through simplification and discipline.
Positions in the low-carbon business will be the first to be eliminated, followed by additional job cuts in the corporate affairs division and project and technology departments, Bloomberg’s sources said.
Last year, Shell said it planned to cut 15 per cent of the 1,300 jobs in its Low Carbon Solutions business as it scales back some green energy ambitions and focuses on profitable projects including in the oil and gas sector.
The UK-based supermajor plans to eliminate 200 jobs in its Low Carbon Solutions division next year, and is also reviewing the future of another 130 positions in the green energy business, which currently employs around 1,300 people, Shell told Reuters in October.
In December 2023, the oil major announced internally a broader plan for job cuts in other departments, too.
Xia Hesheng, President of Huawei Digital Power Sub-Saharan Africa Region, spoke of the global importance of carbon neutrality, and of countries’ pursuit of energy sovereignty. He outlined the huge commercial value of the PV industry which is driving the accelerated development of clean energy. Xia believes Solar Business is a long-term (more than 30 years) and fast-growing industry.
He however cautioned that although businesses can choose to focus on short-term targets, this is not always a winning strategy. “If you want to do a long-term business, you should consider technology, quality, safety, and service”, he said. Xia added that the selection of Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) is a strategic decision, noting that an OEM with comprehensive strength that can develop together in a long-term, is a better choice.
Furthermore, the President expanded that, the safety of household product is crucial to the owner, installer and channel. Safer products should be the first choice in product selection. Huawei has made Residential Solar Safety Design by prioritizing technology safety, electrical safety, equipment safety, and system safety. Specifically, the AFCI (arc-fault circuit interrupter), RSD(Rapid Shut Down) make the above rooftop safety; built-in fire extinguishing package, 0V Port before operation, LiFePO4 (LFP) cell, cell Level monitoring make the Below rooftop safety; while the Triple EMC Protection Design (Power port, Signal port, radiation of system) make the Human safety.
Additionally, Xia asserted that quality is the cornerstone of the rapid development of the industry, pointing out that with the increase in sales and installation, the importance of quality will become more prominent. As such, three aspects of quality should be prioritized namely; product quality, delivery quality, and service quality.
According to him, Huawei achieves product quality through product design and component selection because the company believes that end-to-end high-quality target can only be achieved by building quality on processes.
Finally, Xia restated Huawei’s readiness to work with all partners to be a Long-Distance Runner in Renewable Energy Era.
As the spate of kidnaping for ransom and other criminal activity in the country spiral out of control, experts in the financial service sector have linked the menace to increase in currency circulating outside banks, which climbed to record high as of Q4 2023
This correlation comes as questions swirl around the reversal of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) cashless policy, which previously imposed limits on cash withdrawals and encouraged digital transactions.
Recently, data released by the central bank indicated a substantial surge in currency held outside the banking system as at Q4 2023, reaching unprecedented levels in historical comparison.
According to the central bank data, the total currency in circulation (CIC) as at November, 2023 stood at N3.35 trillion, with currency outside the banks amounting to N3.08 trillion, representing a substantial 92 per cent of the total CIC.
In an interview with THISDAY, the Group Chief Executive officer, Cowry Assets Management, Johnson Chukwu said: “Remember that during the cashless policy, we almost eliminated incidents where people came to people’s homes to rob them of cash. So we eliminated robbery at homes and highway robbery because the robbers knew that the chances that they would get cash were minimal. But now if you reverse that process, you’re going to have those crimes come back. So you’re not just going to deal with kidnapping for ransom. You may also deal with highway robbery and robbers come into homes because they expect people to keep cash.”
He added that the cashless policy of the government had very positive security implications and maintained that he supported the cash withdrawal limits for corporates and personal transactions.
He added: “Unfortunately, the current CBN has revised that which means it’s an intentional act to allow cash outside the banking system. What we are witnessing now is it designed by the current administration of the central bank by reversing the entire cashless policy and removing all penal charges for cash withdrawal and cash lodgment.
“So, once you do that, you have unwound years of cultural change, or attitude change that had been implemented from the Sanusi era to the now. So it’s not strange that we’re seeing an increase in the volume of cash outside the banking system. Also, remember, that there is a transaction charge for every transaction with the bank. So an average businessman who will want to bypass, circumvent or avoid the charge if there is no penalty for keeping cash. And as you rightly said, we’re seeing an increase in kidnapping for ransom because if they know that they can get cash from you they don’t need to lodge the cash into the banking system.”
On her part, Senior Associate at Parthian Partners, Okiki Oladipo said: “While there could be potential correlation between the rise in currency circulation and insecurity, there are other factors that could contribute to this.
“The Stanbic IBTC bank Nigeria PMI’s data for March 2023 recorded a contraction of 42.3 per cent, after which we started to see expansions with a high of 54 per cent in May 2023. This connotes an improvement in the performance of the private sector, also drawing an inference of increased activities in the informal sector, where cash transactions are a norm,” he said.
“Hence, to curtail the upward trend of currency outside the banking system, the issues surrounding accessibility would have to be addressed. More efforts in the line of what is being done by the Payment Service Banks (PSBs) should be further propagated, to capture more people and businesses within the financial system,” she said
