COMPANIES
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY II, 2011
25
Ranona inyests N7.Shn in new production plant Ronke Badmus
R
ANONA Limited, food and
Nigeria
a
manufacturing
leading beverage company,
has invested N7.5bn ($50m) in the development of a new factory dedicated to the production of five new products. According to the Managing Director of the company, Mr. YassirGebara, who stated this during a factory visit organised for
journalists at the Isolobased facility in Lagos on Tuesday, the new products have been introduced into the Nigerian market. The new products include Candia Twist (milk and fruit in apple, orange and multi-fruit flavour); Cadia Smoozy (yoghurt and juice in strawberry and
plain sweet flavour); and Candy'Up (milk drink that comes in chocolate and strawberry flavour). Others are Natures Fresh
Fruit Juice (five flours, apple, orange, pineapple, pineapple and coconut and multi-fruit flavour); and YoJus (kids fruit juice pack also in five flavours).
Gebara said, "All sections of the society, from the old to the young, are catered for by at least one or more of the products being introduced. All the juice and milk-based products are made from all natural products with no artificial coiourings, additives, flavourings or
preservatives.
"The products have a long shelf-life of up to nine months, despite having
2012.
s part of its operational A Vigeo Shipping Limited, expansion
programme,
a subsidiary of the Vigeo Group, has concluded plans to
acquire
six
additional
deep-water support vessels worth $200m. The shipping firm, which made this known in a statement by its Chairman, Mr. Victor Osibodu, said the company had also embraced the newly enacted Nigerian
Content Development Law. It plans to use this as a platform to showcase its long-standing efforts to build local capacity and redefine the quality of service delivery by Nigerian companies.
He said Vigeo Shipping Limited had already demonstrateditscommitment
to the Act by the attainment of 80 per cent Nigerian crew on board its vessel at
the end of 2010. This is in addition to value creation
through engagement of local resources, which he said, had remained a major pursuit of
According to a statement
on Thursday, as part of its contribution
to manpower
development in the marine industry, in addition to meeting its vessel expansion
plans, Osibodu noted that the company would train Nigerians, who would work The 24-month overseas training, which would be for cadet officers, marine and
ratings,
according to Osibodu, will include pre-sea training and practical sea exposure, which
will lead to certification by the International Maritime Organisation. "The training will further improve both the number and quality of Nigerian sea men," he added. The company, he said, would continue to trade with
focus
on
meeting
the Cabotage objectives and developing Nigerians through exposure to global standards and best practices in the maritime world.
"The
company
will
the company. The Vigeo boss said, with the fleet expansion plans, the company hoped to celebrate the achievement of full 100
meet and exceed industry expectations in quality
per cent local manning of
stressed.
all its vessels at the end of
region.
In becoming the regional player, the company will extend its trade to the Gulf of Guinea deep water operations, taking advantage
on vessels in the country.
engineers
the company was deliberately planned, Osibodu said that firm's board intended to carefully nurture a company that would be a reference point in the West African
also strive to continuously
service as it is critical to the
survival of the business," he Noting that the growth of
of regional collaboration and building a truly 'African' Company," he said. VigeoShipping Limited's journey began in 2004 when Vigeo Limited entered into a joint
venture arrangement
with Farstad ASA of Norway. This was to create Vigeo Farstad Shipping Limited; a limited liability company with 60 per cent Vigeo and 40 per cent Farstad interest. The company was created to change the face of
modern
preservation
facilities for perishable agricultural produce to minimise wastages during harvest.
A tomato farmer, Malam Ahmadu Haruna, said that the lack of modern preservation
technologies
was largely re.ponsible for post harvest losses. Haruna underscored the
A cross-section of the farmers made the appeal while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday: The farmers said they recorded huge losses due to the absence of modern
fact that such perishable agricultural produce could
preservation
processing plant to reduce
coupled
with
facilities,
the
m"arket condition in area. They said that
poor the
preserved
under
high temperature, hence the need for specialised storage facilities.
He also called for the establishment of a tomato wastages and provide market for such perishable produce.
the prod uce most affected included tomato, pepper,
onion, green beans vegetables
not be
and
Aminu
lIiya,
a
dry
season farmer. noted that
the absence of modern preservation
technologies
forced farmers to sell their
most advanced technology,
coupled with the freshest
no artificial preservatives and are made from real
were all brought in from Germany, so what we are
ingredients and that is what we have here. We source
fruit concentrate and the milk products contain wholesome full cream
trying to build is a facility that can serve Nigerians world-class milk and juicebased drink products.
our products from Europe and have technical partners that benchmark our quality standard."
milk known to encourage
healthy bones and teeth." He said the organisation was
concerned
ATPI set to make Africa tourism destination
about
customers' feel of the natural fruit and milk taste in all their products.
'Vigeo Olufunke', birthed Vigeo Shipping Limited, a 100 per cent Nigerian shipping company. The vessel, according to the statement, is currently engaged at the Bonga field operated by Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company and has received
Lay; Adeloye HE
T planning
African
Promotion
Tourism
Initiative
is
to market Africa
as a destination, especially
through the production of a tourism publication that will showcase at least six tourism
products in each of the countries on the continent. According to a statement
excellent safety record and commitment to the host
made available to our correspondent in Lagos on Wednesday, the position was made known by the DirectorGeneral of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation and President of ATPI, Otunba Segun
communities.
Runsewe, during the recent
The parent company, Vigeo Holding Limited, is a
meeting of the body in Madrid, Spain, at the FITUR Travel Fair. Runsewe was said to have used the opportunity to commend Zimbabwe's efforts at promoting itself as a
several commendations for professionalism of the crew,
Nigerian conglomerate with interest in diverse sectors
of the economy, including financial services, marketing
and distribution, steel, manufacturing, oil and gas, power and shipping.
tourism destination, and also urged other African countries
to emulate the effort. In his response, the Zimbabwean Minister of Tourism, Mr. Walter Mzembi, was quoted as thanking Runsewe and members of the ATPI for the visit. He said part of his promise when he assumed office as the tourism minister
in 2009 was that Zimbabwe would not be a liability to African
tourism
product.
He said he had kept to this promise as the country had seen an appreciable rise in the number of tourist visitors.
He was also quoted as saying that most of the negative travel advisories on
Zimbabwe issued in the past had been removed. The audio-visual was said to have shown the 'Seven Wonders of Zimbabwe' under the calchphrase: "Zimbabwe, a land of Wonder."
indigenous participation in
the offshore support vessel
M
business.
After
three
successful
years
of
operations,
Farstad ASA Norway pulled out' of Nigeria due to increased agitation in the Niger Delta. Consequently, Vigeo acquired 40 per cent interest in the Joint Venture along with the acquisition of the vessel, Lady Margaret, an 8850BHP Anchor Handling Tug Supply (AHTS) vessel. The acquisition and subsequent operations of the vessel, which was renamed
Tomato farmers call for modern preservation commodities at low prices farmers in facilities to avoid losses. Mubi, Adamawa State, T OMATO have called on the state government to establish
in equipment and systems.
"We aim to offer the best tasting products using the
He said, "Our equipment
Vigeo to invest $200m in vessels' acquisition Lay; Adeloye
Therefore, he said the company decided to invest
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they could not be preserved beyond seven days. "The trend is seriously discouraging and therefore making perishable farming less attractive," lIIiya said. He urged the state government to adopt practical to ensure
measures adequate
distribution of fertiliser and training of farmers on
modern
preservation
technology. NAN's checks at the Mubi market also showed that prices of the commodities had dropped Significantly in the past few weeks due to fresh supplies., However, the price of
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