The President of the African Development Bank Group, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, received a high-level Nigerian delegation led by the country’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Mohammad Mahmood Abubakar on Monday.

The meeting follows on the heels of an address by Dr. Adesina last week at a mid-term ministerial retreat presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Dr. Adesina and the Nigerian minister discussed means of tackling growing concerns about the country’s food security.

Adesina said the Bank’s strategic support for Nigeria’s food production would be hinged on five factors: support, scale, systemic, speed, and sustainability.

He added, “I want to assure President Buhari that the African Development Bank will provide his government with very strong support to tackle the country’s food security challenges.”

“Inflation in Nigeria is high, at 16% or more. Of course, the biggest share of the consumer price index is the price of food, at almost 65%. So, if we can drive down the price of food, of course, we can drive down inflation.“

Adesina urged the Nigerian minister to concentrate on building the correct team and tactics to optimize the country’s farming seasons. He said that dramatically increased food output will result in lower food prices, which will in turn lower inflation rates.

Abubakar said his consultative mission to Abidjan was at the instruction of President Buhari.

“Our mission is to examine ways Nigeria could enhance food production, lower food prices, and create wealth,” the minister said.

Abubakar welcomed the Bank’s proposed strategy and described it as a landmark one that would spur Nigeria’s food supply production. “It will reverse the ugly trend of a sharp increase in prices of food in the country. I am pleased with the Bank’s strategy to facilitate the production of 9 million metric tons of food in Nigeria and to support us in raising self-sufficiency. The Bank’s Special Agro-Processing Zones initiative is a laudable one and Nigeria is grateful.”

Citing successes in Sudan, Adesina explained how the African Development Bank had supported the country with 65,000 metric tonnes of heat-tolerant wheat varieties, cultivated on 317,000 hectares.

“It took two seasons to do this,” he said. “Change will not happen in years. You will see changes in seasons. Sudan now produces 1.1 million metric tons of wheat. The same thing happened in Ethiopia in just two seasons with the production of 184, 000 hectares of wheat,“ he added.

In response to Bank successes in Sudan and Ethiopia, Abubakar said: “This gives me an additional measure of confidence. If you can do it in Sudan, you can equally do it in Nigeria. Not just in wheat, but also rice, maize, and soybeans.”

The African Development Bank will provide Nigeria with support through input delivery, including highly improved seeds and fertilizers to farmers, and an integrated input delivery platform.

Extensively discussed at the meeting was the Bank’s Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone initiative as an effective medium-term plan for revolutionizing Nigeria’s agriculture value chain.

Adesina said: “The task, responsibility, and challenge of feeding Nigeria rests on your shoulders. You will receive maximum support from me, and the African Development Bank for the responsibility that President Buhari has given you. You will not be alone.”

He added: “The Bank stands ready to fully support and help Nigeria in the next farming seasons. So, we must make sure things turn around. The president must succeed, and Nigeria must succeed. Agriculture must succeed.”

Abubakar thanked the African Development Bank for its support and said the meeting gave him reassurances of what Nigeria can achieve with the Bank’s support in the farming seasons ahead.

The minister also called for the Bank’s support to recapitalize the country’s Bank of Agriculture. Both parties set up a task force team to develop a plan for accelerated implementation within the next 60 days.

Also at the meeting were a member of Nigeria’s National Assembly, Hon. Munir Baba Dan Agundi, Chair of the House Committee on Agricultural Colleges and Institutions;  the African Development Bank’s executive director for Nigeria,  Sao Tome and Principe, Dr. Oyebode Oyetunde; Vice President of Agriculture, Human and Social Development, Beth Dunford; Senior Special Advisor to the President of the Bank on Industrialization, Professor Oyebanji Oyelaran; Director General of the Bank’s Nigeria Country Office in Abuja, Lamin Barrow; the Bank’s Director of Agriculture and Agro-Industries, Martin Fregene; the Director for Agricultural Finance and Rural Development, Atsuko Toda; and senior officials from Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Agriculture.

Meyer Plc, one of Nigeria’s manufacturers and marketers of high-quality Paints, continue to struggle in the first nine months ended September 30, 2021.

In the company’s unaudited financial statements filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) and seen by Investors King on Friday, Meyer grew revenue by 34 percent from N566.511 million recorded in the first nine months of 2020 to N759.157 million in the nine months ended September 30, 2021.

However, the company spent 66.48 percent of its revenue on sales. Cost of Sales stood at N504,702 in the period under review.

Therefore, gross profit inched slightly higher by 23.46 percent to N254.455 million, up from N206.097 million achieved in the first nine months of 2020.

Loss from operating activities moderated to -N51.694 million in the period under review from -N133.510 million posted in the corresponding period.

Profit before tax rose to N13.534 million in the first nine months of 2021, up from -N98.404 million filed in 2020 during the peak of the global pandemic. The company paid N4.060 million in taxes in the period under review.

Similarly, profit after tax improved from -N100.528 million recorded in the same period of 2020 to N9.474 million in 2021.

United Capital has officially rebounded from COVID-19 negative impact following a strong financial statement report released on Friday, October 15, 2021.

The company grew revenue by 60 percent year on year from N7.07 billion recorded in the first nine months of 2020 to N11.33 billion in the nine months ended September 30, 2021.

Operating income also jumped by 64 percent to N11.08 billion in the period under review, up from N6.76 billion achieved in the corresponding period.

As expected, operating expenses grew with an increase in revenue to N4.24 billion in the nine months under review from N2.95 billion filed in the first nine months of 2020.

Profit before tax stood at N7.09 billion in the first nine months of 2021, representing an increase of 72 percent when compared to N4.12 billion posted in the same period of 2020.

Profit after tax responded positively as it jumped by the same 72 percent year-on-year to N5.97 billion from N3.46 billion recorded in 2020.

Earnings per share also grew by 72 percent year-on-year from 77 kobo in 2020 to 133 kobo in the period under review.

See other United Capital key Financial Highlights

• Total Assets: N400.75 billion, compared to N222.75 billion as at FY 2020 (80% year-to-date growth)
• Total Liabilities: N373.86 billion, compared to N198.32billion as at FY 2020 (89% year-to-date growth)
• Shareholders’ Fund: N26.89 billion, compared to N24.43 billion as at FY 2020 (10% year-to date growth)

Comparing 9M 2021 with 9M 2020, the following are worthy of note:

− Total Revenue: During the period under review, United Capital’s total revenue increased by 60% year-on-year driven largely by growth in fee and commission income (+112% year-on-year) and Investment Income (+43% year-on-year).

− Cost-to-Income ratio: The company continue to maintain improvement in operational efficiency as cost-to-income ratio for the period declined by 10.25 percentage points largely attributable to the impressive growth in revenue (+64% year-on-year) relative to operating expenses (+44%year-on-year).

− PBT Margin: United Capital recorded an improvement in Profitability margin during the period under review as PBT margin increased by 7.32 percentage points to 62.60% in 9M 2021 compared to 58.33% in 9M 2020 as PBT grew by 72% year-on-year during the period under review.

− PAT Margin: PAT margin also increased, gaining 7.47 percentage points to 52.65% in 9M 2021 compared to 49.00% in 9M 2020 as PAT increased by 72% year-on-year during the period.

− Total Assets: United Capital’s total assets during the period under review grew by 80% year to date on the account of 98% increase in cash and cash equivalents and 90% growth in financial asset investment

Commenting on the company’s performance the Group CEO, Mr. Peter Ashade, said “I am pleased to inform our stakeholders that United Capital ended the third quarter of the year with another outstanding performance. We delivered an increased revenue of 60% year-onyear, PBT growth of 72% year-on-year to N7.09b and total asset growth of 80% year-to-date.

“During the period under review, United Capital successfully listed three series commercial papers worth N19.72 billion on the FMDQ Securities Exchange. The CPs were issued under the company’s N50 billion commercial paper issuance program. This has further positioned us as a company to provide a wider range of wholesale financing solutions to our clients and complement funding base and support for all our businesses.

“Another remarkable point to note was the Nigerian Stock Exchange’s reclassification of United Capital shares from Low Price Stock Group to Medium Price Stock Group in August 2021 driven by steady growth in the company’s share price over the past months due to our consistent impressive performance over the years.

“I want to assure our stakeholders that we are optimistic on sustaining this exciting performance in the last quarter of the year and beyond. We remain focused on our transformation agenda and to continue to provide best-in-class solutions to all client segments. We are also committed to deliver superior returns as we seek to always delight our shareholders.”