Chinese police said on Wednesday they have detained five people connected with a Shanghai-based food supplier alleged by the authorities to have sold expired and rotten meat to major fast food chains including KFC and McDonalds. Shanghai Husi Food is a unit of US-owned OSI Group, and among those held is the head of the company and a quality supervisor, Reuters says referring to a police statement.
Updated 5 Years ago

Bitcoin’s latest expansion is into commercial airspace after Latvian airline airBaltic announced customers can start using bitcoins to pay for tickets. AirBaltic is the first airline to offer a bitcoin payment option. “Introducing the bitcoin payment option is a part of our innovative approach to service with a central focus on our customer,” the airline’s CEO, Martin Gauss, said in a press statement.
Updated 5 Years ago

If the standoff with Russia and the West reaches a point where the EU has to completely cut trade with Russia, oil prices could soar above $200 per barrel, sparking a global economic crisis, says Adam Slater, senior economist at Oxford Economics. Cutting off trade with Russia, the world’s second largest oil exporter, would create a shortage in global energy supplies, which would have spillover effects into Europe, Slater told the Guardian.
Updated 5 Years ago

The country’s internet density received a boost as the global internet body, Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers [ICANN] announced the accreditation of Nigeria’s leading registrar, Upperlink, which makes the company first Nigerian and eighth accredited registrar in Africa. With the new status, Upperlink would serve Nigerian and international markets. Upperlink has core competence in areas such as internet and mobile applications, software development and deployment, database management, systems integration and cloud solutions. As the leading Nigeria Internet Registration Association [NIRA]’s registrar, Upperlink is in the forefront of registrars spearheading the migration of Nigerian companies from .com to the .ng domain name, which is Nigeria’s Country Code Top Level Domain, and also its the second level extension. Segun Akano, managing director/chief executive officer of the company, said the .ng domain “is a shorter and unique domain”.
Updated 5 Years ago

Ugo Okoye, is the chief executive officer of iConcepts, a mobile technology solutions provider. In this interview with BEN UZOR JR, he says VAS, if appropriate resources are channeled towards its development, can assist mobile operators offset the huge decline in voice revenues. Okoye is also of the view skewed revenue share model in favour of telecommunications operator is a fundamental drawback to the growth of the nations’ VAS industry.
Updated 5 Years ago

The difficulties in the Nigerian economy such as infrastructure deficits and political instability in the North-East region have dampened Unilever Nigeria plc’s half-year results, analysis of the financial statement reveals. For the first six months through June 2014, the Nigerian consumer goods company’s revenue fell by 1 percent to N29.28 billion, compared with N29.66 billion in the same period of the corresponding year (HY) 2013.
Updated 5 Years ago

Nigeria’s cement industry will continue its growth spurt into 2020, as investment in capacity continues in response to rapid increase in consumption in a stable-to-strong pricing environment, says investment firm, Renaissance Capital. “The Nigerian cement market continues to grow strongly, with volumes at the end of FY13 reaching just under 22m tpa, representing a 9.6 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the past 10 years,” according to RenCap’s basic materials analysts led by Roy Mutooni, in a research note released July 18, 2014.
Updated 5 Years ago

Pretoria-based Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa (FMCSA) showed off four new models that are destined for African shores, and detailed its future plans for the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region at its first African ‘Go Further’ event held at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg recently. ‘Go Further’ is Ford’s brand promise and the name of product events it has held in Australia, Amsterdam, and Barcelona. The inaugural event marks the first time it is hosted on the African continent.
Updated 5 Years ago

Nigerian Breweries has reported a profit after tax of N23.872bn for the six-month period ended June 30, 2014. The amount represents a 15.5 per cent increase on the N20.663bn it posted for the corresponding period of 2013. The company’s unaudited financial statements for the period, which it filed with the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Monday, showed that its profit before tax for the period was N33.882bn, indicating a 14.4 per cent rise on its PBT for the same period of last year, which stood at N29.607bn.
Updated 5 Years ago

Emerging-market stocks rose to an 18-month high as Chinese shares climbed on bets the government will do more to boost growth. Russian equities rebounded and Saudi Arabia gained on plans to open the market to foreign investors. Bloomberg News reported that China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation rose the most since March in Hong Kong. Saudi stocks rallied 2.8 per cent to a six-year high. The Micex Index in Moscow ended its longest losing streak since January as rebels in Ukraine released bodies from the Malaysian jet crash site.
Updated 5 Years ago