Company
Juul to pay US state $40 million for targeting teens with e-cigarettes
Electronic cigarette giant Juul Labs Inc will pay $40m to North Carolina and take more action to prevent underage use and sales, according to a landmark United States legal settlement announced on Monday after years of accusations that the company had fueled an explosion in teen vaping. A state judge accepted the first-of-its-kind agreement with a US state. North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein had sued Juul, accusing it of employing unfair and deceptive marketing practices that targeted young people to use its vaping products, which deliver addictive nicotine. As part of the agreement, Juul will not advertise to anyone under 21 in North Carolina and will limit sales amounts of Juul products online to any state residents. It will also sell its products only behind counters at retailer...
Total targets more renewable electricity, LNG production by 2030
Total Companies in Nigeria has unveiled its corporate vision in line with the change of the Total Group to TotalEnergies. The organisation aims to produce more renewable electricity and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) by 2030. The oil major also outlined its broad energy lineup that includes oil, gas, electricity, hydrogen, biomass, wind and solar. TotalEnergies is committing $60 billion to investment in renewable energy in the next 10 years, with 10 per cent of that investment expected to come to Nigeria. Speaking at a virtual parley with journalists, the Executive General Manager, Total Country Services, Mrs. Bunmi Popoola-Mordi, highlighted steps that would help in adapting the new name, logo and visual identity of the company. THISDAY had reported that the shareholders of Total Group, had ...
Anambra election: PDP aspirant rules out consensus candidate
File Photo The aspirant, Godwin Maduka, a professor and founder of Las Vegas Pain Institute and Medical Center, U.S., said this when he spoke with reporters in Abuja on Tuesday, after a stakeholders meeting. He said it was unimaginable for any of the 16 aspirants to step down before the Saturday’s primaries. “Some of the aspirants will come to you and say let’s talk. They will say, you don’t need to be in politics. What are you looking for? “I will tell them, are you going to take the governorship title and allow me to work? I will allow you to do that. “Let me work on my ten point agenda-education, ICT, Agriculture, Women and Youth empowerment, solar energy, transportation and all that. I don’t think consensus is possible,” he said. Maduka said he was prepared for the party’s primary elec...
Gunmen kill APC chieftain in Ondo
File Photo A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State, Hon Bamidele Isibor, has been killed by gunmen. The APC leader was shit dead along Ifon-Imoru road in Ose Local Government Area of the state while returning to Imoru after a political function. The state publicity secretary of the party, Mr Alex Kalejaiye confirmed the incident in a statement issued yesterday. He said the late APC leader who was a member of the State Executive Committee of the party was atacked in company of others, on his way from Imoru to Ifon. According to the spokesman of the party, the deceased died of gunshot wounds on Monday. “The party condemns the violent attack on its stalwart which led to his painful exit at the time the party is warming up for its congress,” he said. Kaleyaiye n...
Chad accuses CAR of killing six of its soldiers
The Chad government on Monday accused the Central African Republic (CAR) of killing six of its soldiers in an attack on an outpost in the south of the country. “The Central African armed forces attacked the outpost of Sourou in Chad on Sunday morning … killed a Chad soldier, injured five and kidnapped five others who were then executed in Mbang on the Central African Republic side,” Chad’s Foreign Minister Cherif Mahamat Zene said in a statement. The CAR regularly accuses its northern neighbour of supporting armed rebel groups from inside Chad. The identity of the alleged CAR rebels is yet to be confirmed but a senior Chad security official told AFP news agency, speaking on condition of anonymity, that the rebels were members of Unity for Peace in Central Africa (UPC). The UPC is one of CA...
Bauchi residents lament erratic power supply
Some residents of Bauchi metropolis have expressed concerned over the erratic power supply in the area. Some of the residents who spoke with newsmen in seperate interviews, said the situation had made life unbearable for them. Newsmen report that Gwallameji area of Bauchi and other parts of the metropolis are leaving in darkness in the past months following vandalisation of electrical facilities in the affected communitie. They urged the Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDCO) to address the problem and adopt proactive to protect its facilities against acts of vandalisim. Mr Paul Ugochukwu, a resident of Rafin Zurfi area of the metropolis, said they had been experiencing erratic power supply for the past three months sequel to the alleged destruction of the power transformer in the ar...
Ivory Coast says chocolate traders failing to pay farmers living wage premium
Major chocolate traders in Ivory Coast are failing to pay a $400-per-tonne premium on beans aimed at curbing farmer poverty, the country’s cocoa regulator said in a draft letter seen by Reuters on Friday. The Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC) said companies including Mondelēz International Inc(MDLZ.O) were offsetting the Living Income Differential (LID) by offering a negative country differential – normally a premium of 70 to 150 pounds ($99-$212) per tonne to reflect the quality of Ivory Coast’s beans. Mondelēz said it was paying the full LID. “(Mondelēz) does not offer or have any influence over negative country differentials,” the company said in a statement to Reuters. Buyers have been pressing for the country differential to be turned into a country discount, so farmers receive the extra...
EFCC has recovered over $100 million for NPA – chairman
The chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, says the agency has recovered over $100 million for the Nigerian Ports Authority Bawa said the recovery was part of the outstanding remittances owed to the country through the Nigerian Ports Authority. In 2017, the federal government had terminated the boat pilotage agreement it signed with Intels, after Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation (AGF), said it violated the constitution. The company was also accused of not paying taxes in 2017 — the same year NPA accused it of failing to remit an outstanding debt. Speaking at the weekly ministerial briefing organised by the presidential media team at the presidential villa, Abuja, on Thursday, Bawa said EFCC had made recoveries directly for the...
Dangote Cement completes issuance of N50 billion bond programme
Dangote Cement Plc has announced the successful issuance of N50 billion series 1 fixed rate senior unsecured bonds, under its new N300 billion multi-instrument issuance programme. In a statement on Tuesday, the cement producer said the bonds were issued on May 26, 2021 at coupon rates of 11.25 percent, 12.50 percent and 13.50 percent for the three, five and seven-year tranches respectively. The bonds will be listed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited and FMDQ Securities Exchange. Dangote Cement said that the proceeds of the bond issuance will be deployed for the company’s expansion projects, short-term debt refinancing and working capital requirements. “Aside from this first issuance of a traditional bond under the new Multi-Instruments Programme, Dangote Cement has registered a programme ena...
Senegal readies for first LNG-powered electricity
Senegal is set to be partly powered by liquefied natural gas for the first time with the arrival at the capital, Dakar, on Wednesday of a floating gas facility from Singapore, the West African nation’s state power company, Senelec, said. The floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) is the result of a joint venture between Japanese shipping company Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd (MOL) and Turkey’s Karpowership, which supplies power from its fleet of ships mainly to eight African nations. Once up and running, the unit will supply LNG to a Karpowership vessel, which covers around 15% of Senegalese supply and has until now run on oil like most of the country’s power plants. “This project aims to provide reliable, affordable and cleaner power,” Senelec said. It did not say when the FSRU would be opera...
MTN Nigeria tells customers about potential disruptions for business continuity
TechCentral MTN Nigeria said on Wednesday it notified some enterprise customers about a potential service disruption to enable them put in place business continuity measures. The local unit of South Africa’s telcoms firm MTN runs Nigeria’s largest mobile phone network which generates around a third of the company’s revenue. The action was “a routine notification to a small group of businesses affected by a specific challenge in very few specific locations,” MTN said. “Maintaining network stability and high levels of customer service remains a key priority for us,” Karl Toriola, MTN Nigeria’s chief executive, said in a statement. Toriola said MTN aimed to inform customers in a timely manner so that they can put in place business continuity measures. Potential disruptions could be due to net...
Spotify launches Clubhouse competitor Greenroom
Spotify’s live audio app, Greenroom, formally launches today on iOS and Android, marking the company’s first real attempt at creating a social media platform. The social audio app, which is similar to Clubhouse, allows users to host live conversations about sports, music, and culture. Today’s launch doesn’t come with a marquee creator announcement or specific event planned, but instead, the company is taking the opportunity to encourage people to sign up and figure out how they’ll want to use the app. Some of its core functionality, a person close to the situation says, will eventually make its way to the actual Spotify app, so the team will monitor what happens in Greenroom closely. The app is built on Locker Room, which Betty Labs created and Spotify acquired in March. That app focused s...
