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Courier Service is Capital Intensive -Chinekezi

Published

16 years ago

October 20, 2008

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Mr. Larry Chinekezi, is managing /CEO of Tradeways Express, the largest indigenous independent courier company in Nigeria today

He is a recipient of many awards for outstanding contributions to the growth of the communications industry and has demonstrated high sense of accountability, integrity and transparency in his public and private life. Chinekezi has over 21 years experience in the courier industry and was once the managing director of TNT/IAS Express before leaving for Tradeways Express.

Independent Regulator for the Sector

So much has been said in that direction in the last three years. We have presented papers and have met with the Minister of Information and Communications and other stakeholders on that. We have presented papers to them and the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) had in few occasions called stakeholders meeting where we dialogued over this issue and papers presented to the problem were harmonized. BPE is anchoring the process and I do know as I speak that the matter is in the National Assembly now. It is left for them to go on with their legislative function. We have been expecting that the public forum would have been called by now by the National Assembly so that people can defend their proposals and have the opportunity to say their minds. I can tell you right now that all the stakeholders have agreed that it is desirable but when it will actualize, I cannot tell.

Document Favouring Nipost

We are talking about privatization here and we do believe that the BPE people are well informed just as you said they are partnering with an international consultancy firm who knows what to do and even the publications we made gave our own input into the matter. We expect that when the document comes out, it is a document that will take care of every input made by all the stakeholders. So it is not going to be something for Nipost alone because we have said very clearly that it should not be something that will give birth to monopoly. it should not turn a public institution into a private monopoly. It has to be something that will take care of the interests of Nigerians. Just like when the telecom sector was liberalized, every body saw the system open up and nobody had any negative thing to say about it. So we expect to go the same way. We have no fear at the back of our mind that BPE will do the right thing.

Involvement in Illegal Drugs Business

No licensed courier company worth its salt will want to mingle with fraudsters. But looking at the other way round, it is human being that carry drugs and they must use the normal channel of movement and you see them being caught more often than not trying to board one international flight or the other. The owners of the airlines on their own wouldn’t want to accommodate the drug traffickers but for the fact that they do it without the airliners knowing makes it difficult for the airliners. The security operatives at the airport now know how to catch them in their game in the past if somebody has used a courier firm to move drugs, it does not mean courier companies have started to partner with drug barons or 419 people. It does not happen that somebody can use the system without the knowledge of the operator. That is why you have the NDLEA operatives manning major courier companies here especially those that have international consignments. They are also at the airport to ensure that every export material is screened. So that way, I am sure they will be able to catch anybody who abuses the system.

Areas of Reform by Tradeways

Well, there have been challenges with the economy going up and down. The reform is geared towards ensuring that we can absorb shocks arising from negative turn around in the economy. If you look at the existing infrastructure in the country, sometime ago Nepa was almost nonexistent and we had to rely solely on our own electric power generation because we needed to use energy to power our computers and reach our customers on line. The roads are also very bad and the airlines are not working as they used to. Courier service is synonymous with all services. Then, 95 percent of courier materials used to move by air but now the reverse is the case. About 5 per cent of courier materials are moving by air while 95 per cent are moving by road. That is why you have to look at that area and ensure you have seamless operation, which is the area we have focused on to ensure that we don’t only have the right system but also the customers. We initially focused on courier but as our business began to expand, we felt the need to invest more into cargo and international freight and that means having more cars, more professional staff coming in. Our staff strength has increased and as we continue to expand, it will keep increasing. The cost of doing business has gone up so much that we no longer talk about bottom-line, we are talking about survival in the face of difficulties. We are eventually doing everything by ourselves. The ones government used to do before, they are no longer doing them. So we have to employ staff and train them regularly. That is part of our expansion programme.

Level of Investment in Courier

Level of investment in courier is very poor compared with level of investment in the telecommunications sector. That is why we are hoping that the new regulator that is being expected will look more into professionalism rather the ability to issue licenses. Paying one million naira to acquire the license does not mean that somebody is ready to offer courier service as it should be. There is high level of investment required. Courier service requires enormous amount of money to run and when somebody does not have such huge amount of money to run the business, he can hardly create awareness. Over there, as it should be, supply chain management has improved so much. Companies no longer own warehouses where they stock their goods as they produce, courier companies, logistics companies go to the production line to pick up these goods as they come out and move them to places where they are needed in the distribution channel, and even warehouse for them so that when the goods are needed as required by their distributors, wholesalers and consumers, they can distribute from those end points. It is no longer the situation where for instance, you have Cadbury moving their goods from Lagos to all parts of the country. This will require Cadbury having large fleet of trucks to be able to do that . but you now have a logistics company that is supporting them. As these goods are coming out, they are picking them and distributing them. Manufacturing companies don’t have to buy trucks and opening warehouses all over the country. They rely on our logistics and then have the opportunity to focus on core business of production and it reduces a lot of cost for them. The kind of investment we are making is geared towards ensuring that we have what it takes to undertake such logistics services to the manufacturing sector and other sectors that require it.

Any Plans for Franchising

Oh yes and that‘s an area we are looking at. At the moment, we are still in the drawing board, we have not finalized arrangements. It’s an area we are looking at to be able to get the business closer to the people, even those in the hinterland/ we don’t have to go opening up offices and equipping them when there is somebody there ( a local person ) that can run it successfully. All we need do is to give him the backbone, the professional support and know how and ensure that standard is available there and service is seamless. So we are looking into that and that is part of how we want to achieve our goal of becoming the leading logistics courier company in Nigeria

Ensuring Quality in the Arrangement

It is just like having an agency of a telecom company. They provide the backbone. On your own, you don’t have to switch a network and all that, you are just an outlet. You have the manpower and the location. In every other thing, you still work through them. In the same way, you will just have an outlet there and our network is extended to that place. So we can still pick up and deliver.

Competition in the Industry

In every business, there are always market leaders. It so happened that the so called foreign courier companies are part of the market leaders. So market leaders always determine the way market is done in a particular sector. Again, I said something about investment, if you have what it takes to compete with these people, of course, you can , but if you don’t have, you cannot be like them. When we started in 2002, we said we wanted to compete with the biggest in the industry and we set out and opened 37 offices in all the thirty six states of the federation the same day plus Abuja. So, on day one we opened, we had branches in all the states. We never gave anybody to deliver for us. The same also across the country. We also secured our international relationship so that our mails outside the country can be delivered using our own network without using anybody within the country and I can tell you that the first mail we handled when we started was an international mail that went to Bangkok, Thailand and it was delivered in three days and that gave us the impetus that we had a good future. It was a test case just like when a telecom company comes up and they do their test run.. In fact our feat brought about change in the courier service. We came with a bang and sold the idea to courier companies that operated that time that things could be done in a better way and you can see what has happened in the last six years.

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DG NITDA Reiterates Needs for Safe and Inclusive Digital Environment

Published

10 hours ago

May 14, 2024

Ugo Onwuaso

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To forge strategic partnerships and collaboration for the advancement of Nigeria’s digital transformation Agenda, the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa has reiterated the need for a safe and inclusive online environment responsible for human and Artificial Intelligence (AI) practices in country.

Inuwa made the statement while playing host to a team from TikTok who visited Agency’s Corporate Headquarters in Abuja to seek alliance towards bolstering the country, which aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu priority area of strengthening national security for peace and prosperity.

The DG stated that content moderation strategies will help in addressing online problems like hate speech, misinformation, and cyberbullying in relation to the protection of minors across the country.

“With the Code of practice for Interactive Computer Service Platforms/Internet Intermediaries in place, this has helped in ensuring digital safety in accordance with global best practice and content moderation to enhance security”, he said.

He further noted that “no organisation or institution can operate in silos, we need each other for the actualisation of our goals and objectives towards services delivery and for the advancement of the Nation.”

Highlighting some critical areas, Inuwa stated that leveraging on the platform will advance the country through Digital Literacy 4 All (DL4ALL), Capacity Building, knowledge sharing, trainings, and curbing misinformation, digital safety with the aim of creating a safer cyber space and empowering online environment for Nigerian users.

He added that the platform allows for creative expression through filters, stickers, and editing tools, entertainment and comedy are dominant themes, and informational videos on various topics are gaining traction which has become a launchpad for influencers and trends that can go viral.

Inuwa also explained that NITDA’s Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan 2.0 (SRAP 2024-2027) is structured around eight pillars which include; Fostering Digital Literacy and Cultivating Talents, Building a Robust Technology Research Ecosystem, Strengthening Policy Implementation and Legal Frameworks, Promoting Inclusive Access to Digital Infrastructure and Services, Enhancing Cybersecurity and Digital Trust, Nurturing an Innovative and Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, Forging Strategic Partnerships and Collaborations, and Cultivating a Vibrant organisational Culture with an Agile Workforce.

In her earlier remarks, the Head of Government Regulation and Public Policy TikTok Nigeria and West Africa, Mrs Tokunbo Ibrahim has revealed that NITDA is one of its biggest and critical stakeholders in Nigeria that has an outstanding strides and performance in advancing the digital economy sector.

Ibrahim commended NITDA for its various initiatives, programmes, and policies set in place and aligns with that of TikTok, providing the opportunity were Nigerians use the platform to market, sell and export their products and services as well as talents to the outside world and make a living out of it.
She pointed out that there are projects and programmes that TikTok platform has forge ties of collaboration with, like the Africa creator hub where they do campaigns for tech creator, support, empower, and educate them on how to create contents and explore other sections of the platform, changing their narrative and adding values to what they are doing.

Ibrahim also added that TikTok platform considers online safety as one of its critical areas to secure the cyber space by providing an avenue for users to thrive and be productive in their various activities.

TikTok is currently running African mall to push the narrative of Africa to the world and creators are being equipped with information that they can create contents for products and services in Nigeria, thus can be exported to other countries of the world attracting investments

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Dr. Adesina, AfDB Group President Calls for Media Transformation to Uplift Africa’s Global Narrative

Published

3 days ago

May 11, 2024

Chike Onwuegbuchi

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Dr Akinwumi Adesina, the President of the African Development Bank Group, delivered an impassioned plea for more balanced media coverage of Africa and its development, noting it was critical for changing false narratives.

Adesina said this on Thursday in a keynote speech to the All Africa’s Media summit in Nairobi, attended by nearly 300 participants from across the continent. He praised the crucial role the media plays in strengthening democracy and advancing inclusivity.

The Bank Group president said there were many positive developments in Africa yet the continent continues to suffer misrepresentations which undermine its economic progress and investment potential.

“Despite the significant progress within our continent, the prevailing media narrative often focuses on negative stereotypes, overlooking the substantial advancements and resilience Africa demonstrates,” he added.

Adesina said there was plenty of positive news to report about and highlighted the continent’s economic resilience regional and amid global challenges. He said that in 2023, Africa’s growth rate surpassed the global average, with 11 African nations ranked among the world’s fastest-growing economies.

Adesina referenced a 2021 Africa No Filter Report, which revealed significant adherence to outdated and negative clichés in media reports about Africa. “It’s time for change,” he declared. “We must reshape the narrative about Africa to reflect its true spirit and potential.”

He emphasised the critical nature of information and its ability to have a profound negative impact on development and investor perceptions even though an in-depth investigation by Moody’s Analytics had shown the continent was much less of a risk than many other continents.

“We must promote a balanced view that highlights both the challenges and the many successes of Africa. It’s about changing perceptions and showcasing Africa as a continent rich with opportunity and innovation.”

The Bank Group President also spoke about the challenges and transformations within the media sector, highlighting the impact of digital technology.

“The media landscape has dramatically shifted with the rise of the internet and mobile technology, leading to a proliferation of digital platforms,” Adesina declared.

“While this has democratised information, it has also complicated issues, the distinction between fact and fiction can become blurred.”

To counter unfair and unbalanced narratives, Adesina urged the creation of a powerful, globally respected African media and proposed strategic collaborations among regional financial institutions to support this cause, emphasising the need for media to act as a catalyst for development.

“We need to celebrate and promote the continent’s successes, turning the tide against the longstanding stereotypes that have clouded the global view of Africa… What you call yourself, is the name others will subscribe to you.”

“For as long as we continually denigrate ourselves and play into the hands of those who control the narrative about Africa, we will be stuck with a label that does not belong to us,” he concluded.

He highlighted the African Development Bank’s own successes which included maintaining a AAA credit rating and launching groundbreaking financial initiatives that have earned it respect as an innovative and successful multilateral development bank.

“We have proven that Africa can lead with innovation and strength in the global financial landscape,” the President remarked. “Yet, these achievements receive minimal attention compared to the persistent focus on Africa’s challenges.”

Adesina added that just one month ago, the Bank launched a landmark $750 million hybrid capital instrument, again with a Triple A rating, which was oversubscribed eight times. He described this as a huge “testament to the confidence and trust in Africa’s burgeoning financial capabilities.”

He pledged that the African Development Bank remained committed to supporting initiatives that would help the media present a more balanced and progressive portrayal of Africa and support its economic development.

In a discussion with Julie Gichuru of the Mastercard Foundation after his address, Adesina said Africa was blessed with energy sources, but millions remained without electricity. “This must change,” he said.

“We cannot industrialise in the dark, we cannot develop in the dark. Our children cannot be competitive in a world of darkness,” he concluded.

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Brands Jostle for CVA 2024 as Consumers Vote

Published

4 days ago

May 10, 2024

Chike Onwuegbuchi

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Ongoing voting for brands on the Consumers Value Awards portals, consumers expressed brand satisfaction with their votes.

Over 40 categories of brands are listed based on consumers’ nominations on the Consumers Value Awards portal for voting as Value-for-Money brands in the 2024 edition of the award.

Consumers cast votes for brands to express satisfaction among various brands.

Presenting the one-month result, Akonte Ekine, CEO of BrandXchange, said the initiative is transparent and objective. It’s the consumer position on brands as nomination and voting drive the platform.

According to him, in the Telecommunications category (MNOs), MTN leads with 51.1% of the votes recorded in the first month, Spectranet has 47.6% of the votes in the Internet Service Provider segment, and MTN has 69.2% votes for ISP under the MNOs.

In the ongoing 3rd edition voting, two new categories of sanitary pad and Ice Cream are experiencing consumers’ attention as Always Sanitary Pad leads the segment with 63.6%, Just Delight Ice Cream at 36.2% and Viva Detergent at 41.7%.

Other leaders on the voting platform of Consumers Value Awards based on consumer preferences in the first month under home appliances (Television, Refrigerator, Air conditioner and washing machine) are Samsung 40%, Haiier Termocool 40%, Lontor 40% and Haier Termocool 42.9% respectively.

Trophy leads Alcohol Beverage with 50% of the votes, and Pepsi takes 62.5% of ⁠Carbonated Drinks. It is a tie among consumers on the cooking oil and regular Toot paste as Kings Oil and Power Oil achieved the same vote of 50%, Colgate Toothpaste and Close Up Toothpaste also tied with 26.7% votes each in the categories while Dabur Toothpaste leads in the herbal toothpaste category with 55.6%.

Lafarge Cement leads with 62.5% in the Cement, Dangote Sugar has 55% of the votes in Sugar, Leadway Insurance has 57.1%, Eva leads the Table water category with 38.5%

Other leaders in various segments based on consumer votes on the Consumers Value awards platforms are Maltina 40%, Dettol 37.5%, Peak Milk 80%, Golden Penny Spaghetti 80%, Indomie Noodle 85.7%, Checkers 90%, GTB 66.7%, OPay 62.5%, Morning Fresh 62.5%, and Gala Sausage Roll 94.4%.

Also, knorr Cube 57.1%, Lipton Tea Bag 83.3%, Vaseline 71.4% and Golden Morn lead their sectors, Milo and Bournvita tied with 50% of the vote each as leaders alongside MTN and Cadbury tying with 40% votes under Consumer-Friendly brands.

Vitafoam 44.4%, Guinness Stout 83.3%, Mobil Engine oil 100% (International Engine Oil Brand), Oleum Oil 100% (Made in Nigeria Brand), Hypo and Harpic 50%, Fearless 33.3%, Abidec 80%, Reload Kids 60% Reload Adult 66.6%, and Bet 9ja 50%

The voting will close on 30th June 2024.

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