President of Longrich International Markets, Alex Jia Dian, has described Nigeria as the gateway to African business.
Dian spoke on the sidelines of the launch of a book on Nigeria’s First Lady, Aisha Buhari, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Thursday.
The 46-page book, Aisha Buhari – Being Different, was written by Hajo Sani, senior special adviser to the president on women affairs and administration. It is a memoir of the First Lady from childhood to date.
Speaking at the book launch, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo described the First Lady as a worthy partner of the Federal Government headed by her husband, President Muhammadu Buhari.
“History has shown that it doesn’t matter how many degrees you have or how many titles precede or honours follow your name, or how high the position you hold. The rare privilege of public service can only be justified by courage, integrity and selflessness. To these, Aisha Buhari adds being yourself, being different,” Osinbajo said.
He said the book seeks to document the practical work the First Lady has done in the past five years, “but it begins with a detailed and sensitive chronicle of childhood years and her growth as a woman, wife and mother”.
Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Dian said he felt specially honoured and privileged to be at the book launch.
“I feel like a Nigerian and doing responsible business in Nigeria. Nigeria is indeed the gateway to African business,” he said.
At the launch, Longrich, a manufacturer of a wide range of products including toothpastes, bathing soaps, sanitary napkins, panty liners, natural antibiotics, cooking pots and many other products, announced a donation of N15 million.
Dian also listed some of the challenges facing the business in Nigeria to include clearing of raw materials and products as well as logistics. He said a fast track of clearing processes as well as local production would be of immense help.
“We have been impacting millions of lives by donating palliatives during COVID-19. We offer foreign scholarship programmes to youths, free tours and travel, and knowledge transfer,” he said.
Also speaking, Titi Ejimagwa, international director of Longrich, informed that Longrich has built a $100 million Smart Factory at Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos that that can produce for Africa and beyond.
Ejimagwa said that going forward, the company will continue to focus on good products, effective delivery, robust incentives and making selling a way of life.
“Our focus is to generate employment, catalyse entrepreneurship, empower women, and ensure comfortable retirement,” she said.
She said the company is also looking to increasing footprint in Africa through innovative go-to markets, along with sizeable CSR projects.
