The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BUA Foods Plc, Abdul Samad Rabiu, has revealed plans to expand the pasta production unit of the company.

Investors King gathered that the planned expansion comes weeks after Nigeria’s second richest man experienced a $1.1 billion decline in his net worth in 90 days.

The depreciation in Rabiu’s wealth was largely attributed to the depreciation of the naira and fluctuations in equity values.

However, after signing an agreement with FAVA (Italy), one of the world’s leading pasta equipment manufacturing companies, BUA Foods renewed its planned expansion.

Rabiu announced the expansion in a statement signed on Wednesday by BUA Foods Director of Marketing and Corporate Communications, Adewunmi Desalu.

According to him, the planned expansion is aimed at assisting the government in battling the ongoing food shortage in the country.

He noted that the expansion will give room for growth, adding that the company will be able to introduce new innovations.

The statement read, “Our manufacturing capacity expansion will continue to enable us to extend the boundaries of what we can produce and deliver, supporting our nation’s development by providing solutions to ongoing food shortages.”

“In addition to producing more pasta, we’ll be able to introduce new innovations to support mixed volume growth, while consistently delivering the unrivalled product quality our customers expect.

“The additional 100,000 tonnes of grain storage capacity will enable us to meet the growing demand for our products while strengthening the backbone of our food processing operations by ensuring a reliable and consistent supply of raw materials.”

The Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Refinery, Aliko Dangote, has addressed the recent disagreement involving his refinery and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) regarding the price of petrol in Nigeria.

In an interview on Monday, Dangote disagreed with NNPCL over claims that it purchased petrol at a high rate from the refinery.

Investors King reported that Aliko Dangote had urged the President Bola Tinubu-led government to eliminate fuel subsidies and allow the Dangote Refinery to address Nigeria’s petroleum issues, particularly the high consumption rates that have turned the nation into an importer of most goods.

However, while sharing his thoughts on the petrol pricing concerns, the businessman stated that the refinery’s petrol was sold to NNPCL at a price lower than what the company imported.

Dangote revealed that what transpired was not a disagreement, adding that NNPCL announced a different petrol price to Nigerians.

Meanwhile, Dangote did not mention the exact price at which the product was sold.

According to him, “What’s going on is not really a disagreement per se. NNPC bought this particular one from us on the 15th of September at an international price. They also imported over 800,000 metric tonnes of gasoline.

“The ones they bought from us were actually cheaper than the ones they imported. So when they announced our price, it wasn’t really the real price. What they announced was likely what it cost them, including profits and other things. Meanwhile, they’ve never added profit to their cost before.

“And then, the other one is what they imported, but people don’t know how much they spent on importing. Their own importation was about fifteen to 20 percent more expensive than ours. What they do first is to sell at a basket price. If they want to remove subsidies, they can announce that they’ve removed the subsidy. Everybody will adjust,” he said.

Tony O. Elumelu, CFR, Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), hosted a reception with Cindy McCain, Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), to highlight youth unemployment and hunger in Africa, on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly meetings, in New York City.

The gathering convened philanthropists, entrepreneurs, change makers, policymakers and global leaders.

Dialogue centred on two pressing themes, fundamental to Africa’s transformation: providing a lasting solution to hunger and the transformative potential of entrepreneurship to eradicate poverty on the continent.  With over 7,500 of Tony Elumelu Foundation entrepreneurs drawn from the food sector, the link between sustainable access to food and entrepreneurship was clear.

The event was also an opportunity for WFP, once again, to highlight the “forgotten” humanitarian emergencies ongoing in Africa, including Sudan and the DRC, where WFP is delivering in the most challenging of environments.

McCain detailed WFP’s efforts to mitigate hunger in global conflict zones, including Sudan, Gaza, and Ukraine. Both McCain and Elumelu underlined the urgency and the need for novel approaches, going beyond short-term fixes, and creating sustainable, empowering solutions.

Hunger in Africa is often a direct consequence of climate change and Elumelu reiterated the need for an equitable approach to climate and sustainable energy across Africa.

The event also served to introduce WFP’s exclusive philanthropic initiative, spearheaded by McCain, which aims to unite global leaders in the pursuit of Zero Hunger.

“We are at a pivotal moment where global hunger has reached alarming levels, fuelled by conflict, economic instability, and the climate crisis. WFP is supporting communities in need across the globe, but we cannot do it alone. Political and private sector leaders must step up now. We need bold action and innovative partnerships to turn the rising tide of humanitarian needs. If we all join hands in the fight against hunger, we can achieve our shared ambition of a better future for all,” said McCain.

Elumelu spoke of the vital role entrepreneurship plays in fostering stability, growth and purpose. He said: “Entrepreneurship creates economic resilience and plays a critical role in preventing crises. 783 million people are affected by hunger worldwide – this is a humanitarian issue, a global crisis.

At the Tony Elumelu Foundation, we empower young African entrepreneurs who will build resilient economies from the ground up and drive sustainable change, ensuring prosperity even in the most fragile contexts.”

About the Tony Elumelu Foundation

The Tony Elumelu Foundation is the leading philanthropy empowering a new generation of African entrepreneurs, driving poverty eradication, catalysing job creation across all 54 African countries, and ensuring inclusive economic empowerment. prosperity. In 2015, Elumelu and his family committed US$100 million to launch a legacy entrepreneurship programme, to empower young African entrepreneurs.

Since the launch of the Programme, the Foundation has given access to training to over 1.5 million young Africans on its digital hub, TEFConnect, and disbursed USD$100 million in direct funding to 20,000+ young African women and men, who have collectively generated over USD$2.5 billion in revenue and created over 400,000 direct and indirect jobs across Africa.

The Foundation’s mission is rooted in Africapitalism, which positions the private sector, and most importantly entrepreneurs, as the catalyst for the social and economic development of the African continent.”