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NERC asks electricity consumers to update prepaid meters

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The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has urged prepaid meter users to update their meters before November 2024.

NERC shared the update on its X handle (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday.

NEEC stated that the proposed update, would be free of charge, would not affect the current prepaid units of users.

It further advised users to contact their Distribution Companies for more information as regards the update.

The statement read, “If you have a prepaid meter, it may be time for an update. From November 2024, you may not be able to recharge your meter. However, updating is easy and free. DisCos shall commence issuance of two free Key Change Tokens (KCTs) which will update your meter.

“The update will not affect the units in your meter nor will it make your meter run faster than usual. Contact your DisCo for more information.”

Tingo Mobile grants loan to All Farmers Association of Nigeria

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[Tingo Mobile AFAN]
[Tingo Mobile Loan to Farmers]

Tingo Mobile Advances Loan Facility to All Farmers Association of Nigeria to Finance Cultivation of 3,000 Hectares of New Farming Land for Rice and Wheat Production

Loan Facility of 3 Billion Naira (Approximately USD $6.5 Million Dollars) Enables Additional Production of More Than 6,000 Metric Tons of Wheat Per Annum and 16,000 Metric Tons of Rice Per Annum

Financing Additionally to Accelerate Onboarding of AFAN Warehouses to Tingo Mobile Partnership with Prime Commodity Exchange and AFAN

First of Many Planned Financing and Production Deals with AFAN, Representing an Important Extension of Key Relationship

Part of Strategy to Significantly Increase Nigeria’s Food Production Levels and Significantly Increase Crop Supply into Tingo Foods Processing Business and Tingo DMCC Export Business

MONTVALE, N.J., June 02, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Tingo Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: TIO) (“Tingo” or the “Company”) announced today that it has provided a 3 Billion Naira (approximately USD $6.5 Million) loan facility to the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (“AFAN”) for the primary purpose of cultivating 3,000 hectares of new farming land for rice and wheat production. AFAN will also utilize part of the loan facility to accelerate the onboarding of its warehouses to the Tingo Mobile partnership with Prime Commodity Exchange (“PCX”) and AFAN as part of its target to achieve a network of 80,000 warehouses in two years, as announced on April 26, 2023.

The new 3,000 hectares of cultivated farming land is expected to generate an additional 6,000 Metric Tons of wheat per annum and an additional 16,000 Metric Tons of rice per annum with a combined market value of USD $17.5 million per annum.

As the first of many other planned financing and production deals with AFAN, to be expanded to cover other crop types, the Company expects the arrangement to become a very significant source of supply into both the Tingo Foods processing business for onward supply of finished food and beverage products to domestic and international markets, and the Tingo DMCC business for direct export. Through AFAN’s position as the umbrella body of all 56 recognized commodities and agricultural associations in Nigeria, today’s extension and strengthening of the relationship between the parties is expected to be highly valuable for the overall Tingo group eco-system.

AFAN’s utilization of part of the facility to accelerate the onboarding of more warehouses to the Tingo Mobile, PCX and AFAN partnership is also expected to be very valuable to the Tingo group as additional warehouses not only strengthen Tingo Mobile’s infrastructure, goods handling and logistics capabilities, they also expand Tingo Food’s and Tingo DMCC’s access to produce through the right of first refusal agreement over goods received into the warehouses.

The various facets of the new financing and production agreement with AFAN are expected to have a material impact on Tingo’s Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) goals of increasing food production, improving food security, and empowering delivering financial upliftment to the farmer.

Farouk Rabiu Mudi, President of AFAN, commented: “This significant new investment from Tingo Mobile is a further and very important boost for Nigerian farmers. The funds being provided greatly enhance our ability to cultivate vast areas of agricultural land, delivering significant increases in rice and wheat production. Tingo Mobile’s latest commitment is indicative once again of their invaluable support towards Nigeria’s agricultural development, which we and our farmers are very grateful for. We look forward to the continued deepening and expansion of our relationship with Tingo Mobile as we work together to support Nigeria’s farmers and deliver mutual benefit for all parties.”

Darren Mercer, Chief Executive Officer of Tingo, commented: “We are delighted to extend and strengthen our relationship with AFAN through this agreement. By supporting AFAN and its farmers to cultivate more land and improve crop production levels. We are not only helping Nigeria’s agricultural community, we are also generating more business for Tingo Mobile and delivering more produce to Tingo Foods and our Tingo DMCC export business. This is truly a win-win situation, and one that fits exceptionally well with our ESG commitments.

“Today’s agreement, together with the series of other such deals that we plan to execute on going forward, are yet another means for us to advance our goal of increasing food production levels, while also meaningfully increasing revenues and net earnings across a number of our businesses, which are enhanced by the synergistic attributes of our unique eco-system.

“We are also very excited about the business impact of AFAN’s commitment to allocate part of our loan facility to accelerate their onboarding of warehouses as we expect the enlargement of the warehouse network to materially assist us to reduce crop wastage and achieve higher levels of crop utilization and again further increase the supply of produce into Tingo Foods and Tingo DMCC.”

Dozy Mmobuosi, Founder of Tingo Mobile and Tingo Foods, commented: “Today’s agreement is expected to be the start of an important further expansion of our relationship with AFAN, and a major milestone in our ambitious strategy for increasing the food production levels of Nigeria and the wider African continent.

“I am very proud of the dominant position and highly reputable status we have achieved in Nigeria, which allows us to make a meaningful difference towards tackling food poverty and the world’s food security crisis, and towards delivering financial upliftment to farmers.

“As we build on the AFAN and PCX partnership we signed in April, and further develop the recently acquired Tingo Foods business and newly launched export business, we believe we have achieved a level of scalability in Africa’s agricultural industry that has never been seen before. I believe that this in turn will help us attain success as we strive towards our goal of making Africa self-sufficient and a net exporter of food products.”

About Tingo Group

Tingo Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: TIO) is a global Fintech and Agri-Fintech group of companies with operations in Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Tingo Group’s wholly owned subsidiary, Tingo Mobile, is the leading Agri-Fintech company operating in Africa, with a comprehensive portfolio of innovative products, including a ‘device as a service’ smartphone and pre-loaded platform product. As part of its globalization strategy, Tingo Mobile has recently begun to expand internationally and entered into trade partnerships that are contracted to increase the number of subscribed farmers from 9.3 million in 2022 to more than 32 million, providing them with access to services including, among others, the Nwassa ‘seed-to-sale’ marketplace platform, insurance, micro-finance, and mobile phone and data top-up. Tingo Group’s other Tingo business verticals include: TingoPay, a SuperApp in partnership with Visa that offers a wide range of B2C and B2B services including payment services, an e-wallet, foreign exchange and merchant services; Tingo Foods, a food processing business that processes raw foods into finished products such as rice, pasta and noodles; and Tingo DMCC, a commodity trading platform and agricultural commodities export business based out of the Dubai Multi Commodities Center. In addition to its Tingo business verticals, Tingo Group also holds and operates an insurance brokerage platform business in China, with 130+ offices located in China’s cities and major towns; and Magpie Securities, a regulated finance services Fintech business operating out of Hong Kong and Singapore.

Conyers secures costs for opposing creditors: TLG Atma Ltd (Applicant) v Atlas Mara Limited (Respondent)

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In its judgment dated 28 July 2021, the BVI Commercial Court, determined both that as matter of jurisdiction, and in the exercise of his discretion he should permit creditors who successfully opposed the making of a winding-up order to recover their costs from the applicant creditor.

Justice Adrian Jack [Ag] dismissed the application (the "Application") made by TLG Atma Ltd ("TLG") to appoint liquidators over Atlas Mara Limited (the "Company").

The reasons for the dismissal of the Application were twofold.

Firstly, the Court determined that the evidence submitted by the Company met the required threshold in the oft cited Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal decision Sparkasse Bregenz Bank AG v In the Mater of Associated Capital Corporation, Civil Appeal No.10 of 2002 (determined on 18th June 2003). Secondly, the Court was not of the opinion that it would be just and equitable for liquidators to be appointed in light of the opposition from the majority of creditors including Prudential Insurance Company of America ("Prudential") and Guggenheim Partners Investment Management LLC ("Guggenheim") ( together the "Opposing Creditors").

The Opposing Creditors
Prudential and Guggenheim (both represented by Conyers) in advance of the liquidation each filed their respective notices of intention to appear, in addition to a short note setting out their reasons for opposition. As opposing creditors, and therefore interested parties entitled to be heard, they were not parties to the Application.

The Opposing Creditors opposed the Application on the basis that a winding up order would frustrate the current restructuring plans of the Company for ongoing financial viability to an orderly divestment of the Company’s assets (the "Restructuring Plan"). The Restructuring Plan was supported by the majority of the Company’s principal creditors all of whom had agreed to stay enforcement of their debts while the Restructuring Plan was put into effect (the "Standstill Agreement"). The Applicant did not support the Restructuring Plan nor did it agree to enter into the Standstill Agreement.

The Court determined that the majority of creditors including the Opposing Creditors had good reasons for opposing the Application and to support the Restructuring Plan which was projected to result in a better return to the creditors than a court ordered liquidation process.

Costs Order
On the dismissal of the Application, the Court granted the usual order for costs to follow the event as between the parties, that is, the Applicant to pay the costs of the Company.

Conyers also sought the costs of the Opposing Creditors.

After hearing initial submissions, the Court permitted the Opposing Creditor to file submissions on the issue. They did so, as did the Applicant.

In its judgment dated 28 July 2021, the Court decided that it had jurisdiction to award costs in favor of the Opposing Creditors relying on the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal decision in Trade and Commerce Bank (through Richard Forgerty, its joint official liquidator) v Island Point Properties SA and another [2010] ECSCJ No.217 ( "Island Point").

In that case, the Court of Appeal was of the view that it has jurisdiction to award costs to an opposing contributory on an unsuccessful liquidating application. Now Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, Dame Pereira at paragraph 41 of the judgment, confirmed that the decision was "… not made by way of applying any general principle as regards entitlement to costs, or by stating any general proposition on the matter, but merely to reflect the assistance rendered by Counsel… and having regard to the unique circumstances of this case." (own emphasis).

For those reasons, the Court determined that if the Court has jurisdiction to award costs to a contributory, a fortiori, it has the power to award costs to the Opposing Creditors. The Court also considered guidance from French "Applications to Wind Up Companies". In essence, the Court found that it was reasonable for the Opposing Creditors to appear and explain why the "Class remedy" for the appointment of liquidators was not in the best interests of the creditors as a whole. It was not generally for the Company to argue this point and more importantly significant weight was placed on the submissions made by the Opposing Creditors in the exercise of the Court’s discretion to dismiss the Application.

Takeaways
It is now firmly established that as a matter of BVI law, there is jurisdiction to award costs to opposing creditors who successfully oppose a liquidation application. Whether such an order will be made will ultimately depend on the circumstances of each case, and is not as of right. Some of the relevant factors for the Court’s consideration include whether the opposing creditors and the respondent company have instructed different legal counsel and whether the opposing creditors have independent and distinct interests from that of the respondent company.

Nonetheless this is a welcome reminder that the Commercial Court of the BVI continues to act in accordance with modern commercial practice across the globe and a salutary reminder to applicant creditors that there costs exposure may extend to multiple parties.

Ethiopian Airlines Group to invest in AAICEC project

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Ethiopian Airlines Group last week signed an equity investment agreement in Addis-Africa International Convention and Exhibition Centre (AAICEC) project.

The center is currently under construction in Addis Ababa, home to the headquarters of the African Union (AU), and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).

The project, which lies on an area of about 70,000 sq. m, is scheduled to be completed by the end of the first half of 2024.

Ethiopian says it is participating in the project through equity investment to boost conferences, tourism, and trade in our country.

“We are truly pleased to be part of yet another initiative that would boost our country’s tourism, trade, and investment,” Group CEO Mesfin said.

The group boasts of having the largest hotel in Africa after inaugurating the second phase of the Skylight Hotel months ago.

“Now, embarking on this equity investment with AAICEC, we have ascertained our commitment to deepen our role in the proliferation of tourism,” Mesfin noted.

The project encompasses indoor and outdoor exhibition venues, multi-purpose halls, conference center, auditoriums, office space, shops, restaurant and café, and children’s playground, among others.

“We are glad to be part of this major national project that will increase our country’s visibility as an international conference and exhibition center,” Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO Mesfin said.

Ethiopian currently avails seamless connectivity from its major hub, Addis Ababa, to more than 134 destinations across five continents deploying more than 145 ultra-modern aircraft.

Beira joins Unifeeder’s maritime network

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The international logistics experts Unifeeder has added the central Mozambican port of Beira to its Mozambique-India-Jebel Ali service to boost trade and connectivity.

The new network transports containers on a round-trip from Maputo, Jebel Ali (Dubai), Mundra (India), Nhava Sheva (India), Mombasa (Kenya), Beira, and back to Maputo.

Also read: Mozambique’s LAM Airlines returns to IATA clearing house
In a press release, Unifeeder stresses that Beira is a strategic port, playing a crucial role in connecting the landlocked countries of Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi to global trade. It adds that “its strategic location and efficient infrastructure make it a key hub for commerce in the region”.

According to Unifeeder, as a result of the integration of Beira into the existing supply chain network, customers can expect more efficient and reliable transport services.

In particular, “the seamless flow of goods and commodities between India, the Middle East, and East Africa will not only reduce transit times but also lower costs, benefiting businesses of all sizes. This enhanced connectivity will unlock new trade routes, allowing businesses to explore untapped markets and expand their reach”.

Unifeeder is a subsidiary of DP World, a multinational logistics company that holds a 30-year concession to operate the container terminal at the port of Maputo until 2033, with an option to extend for a further 10 years. Globally, DP World made a profit of 651 million US dollars in the first half of 2023.