Business
Wazobia is not just a food Market, “It’s a movement” —Tunde Fasina
Wazobia African Market is trending. “It’s more than a grocery store. To me, it’s a movement. A movement for quality food; a movement for lower prices; a movement for community support and empowerment; and a movement to feed the masses,” said Mr. Tunde Fasina, the owner of the Wazobia chain.
One location is on 6203 Westheimer Road – sitting between State Highway 6 (SH 6) and Farm to Market Road 1464 (FM 1464). There is another one on 10828C Beechnut Street sitting right by Wilcrest. Yet all the Wazobia stores have a variety of things in common. The aisles are always braced against a lively throng of vibrant colors of assorted provisions and groceries. In addition, there is also the Wazobia African kitchen. It is a compartment where food is prepared and served to customers to eat or take out. The aroma of inviting freshly cooked food could be perceived from afar.
The stores are always busy. A justification of a loaded inventory of both wholesale and retail household foodstuff. A trip to the Westheimer branch confirmed the obvious. Customers can be seen pushing and shoving as they squeeze past one another trying to check out bargains. Then there is this long line in the eatery area. They are customers from all over waiting to pick up orders.
Over the years, the Wazobia African Market has remained the fastest growing and leading African Grocery store in the City of Houston. It was established on June 18, 2013, to encourage economic development and community building, and to provide authentic products from all African cultures. All Wazobia locations offer Authentic African products and affordable quality food that are often hard to find.
To the greater Houston, especially the African community, Wazobia represents more than just a successful food business. For example, on April 27th, 2019 when the Beechnut location was inaugurated, Houston’s Mayor, Sylvester Turner commended Mr. Fasina for his contributions and phenomenal support to the African community, especially in his role in assisting families impacted by Hurricane Harvey.
Tunde Fasina…. He told the Texas International Guardian News that his community and humanitarian activities are consistent with his organizational mission.
But Wazobia has been consistent with community support. For instance, during the City’s Hurricane Harvey recovery efforts, Wazobia provided free meals to over 200 families. Wazobia has also sponsored major events in the African community, including AfriFEST, Africa Fashion Week Houston, IgboFest, and the Nigeria Cultural Parade held in Downtown Houston. Furthermore, Wazobia is a committed sponsor for Africa Day held annually at City Hall.
By Fall 2019, the food entity officially incorporated a Scholarship program to benefit outstanding academically sound high school students on a need basis in the African community. Mr. Fasina told the Texas International Guardian News that his community and humanitarian activities are consistent with his organizational mission. “Of course, the aim of every business is to make a profit but we are a community-oriented business with a covenant to prioritize family welfare,” noted Mr. Fasina.
“Of course, the aim of every business is to make a profit but we are a community-oriented business with a covenant to prioritize family welfare”
Mr. Fasina continued, “You may have also heard about our annual Customer Appreciation event which attracts thousands of Houstonians. This is a family and community fun-filled event organized to appreciate Houston families, friends, and customers with tangible recreational events and prizes. We float free food, drinks, games, and a raffle draw. Besides big item prizes, there are various opportunities where participants or guests win big cash rewards.”
Again, Mr. Fasina noted, “This is just to say thank you Houston for being a part of our family. We strategically created this annual event to further appreciate our esteemed Houston and African family, friends, and especially our customers who troop in and out of our stores to shop.
This year for instance, on Saturday, June 18th, 2022, Wazobia celebrated this event and gave out a grand prize of one year’s worth of free groceries.
Mr. Fasina was right about the Customer Appreciation event. This year for instance, on Saturday, June 18th, 2022, Wazobia celebrated this event and gave out a grand prize of one year’s worth of free groceries. Last year, one Nkechi Igboekwu emerged as the first prize winner of a Hyundai Sonata at the same event.
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Nigeria’s huge oil refinery built by Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote received its first crude deliveries, the company said on Saturday, in the latest step to starting up the delayed megaproject.
Billed as Africa’s largest of its type, the 650,000 barrel-per-day Dangote refinery could be a game changer for Nigeria’s economy when fully operational by helping ending the country’s reliance on fuel imports.
Dangote Petroleum Refinery received an initial shipment of one million barrels of crude from Agbami deepwater field and began loading on Friday, the company spokesman said Saturday.
The initial run will be for production of diesel and aviation fuel before moving on to petrol output.
Dangote gave no date for the actual start of refinery production.
Though one of Africa largest oil producers and the continent’s top economy, Nigeria relies almost totally on imported fuel and diesel because of a lack of refining capacity.
Nigeria swaps crude worth billions of dollars for petrol that it had subsidised for years to keep prices cheap for its domestic market.
Fuel imports and subsidies caused a huge drain on foreign exchange when Nigeria was struggling with dwindling oil revenues and foreign currency shortages.
“Dangote Petroleum Refinery can meet 100 per cent of Nigeria’s requirement of all refined products, gasoline, diesel, kerosene, and aviation jet, and also have surplus of each of these products for export,” the company said in a statement.
The facility sits on 2,635 hectares (6,500 acres) of land at the Lekki Free Zone on the edge of Lagos city and cost an estimated $19bn, according to local media.
The refinery, first scheduled to open in 2021, was officially inaugurated by then president Muhammadu Buhari earlier this year and was supposed to begin operations in June.
Since coming to office in May, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ended the long-standing fuel subsidy and floated the naira currency in economic reforms he says will attract foreign investment and build long term growth.
The former Lagos governor has called on Nigerians to be patient with his reform programme as the initial impact saw fuel prices soar, a sharp fall in the value of the naira and an increase in the cost of living.
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CLEVELAND (AP) — A businessman who orchestrated a $180 million check-kiting scheme and used the proceeds to live a lavish lifestyle and amass one of the world’s most revered classic car collections has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison.
Najeeb Khan, 70, of Edwardsburg, Michigan, told a federal judge Thursday that he was “blinded by greed” to carry out the scheme and buy more than 250 cars, as well as airplanes, boats and a helicopter, according to Cleveland.com. Besides receiving a 97-month sentence, he must pay $121 million in restitution to Cleveland-based KeyBank, $27 million to clients and $9.8 million in back taxes.
Authorities have said Khan carried out the fraud from 2011-2019 while growing his payroll processing business in Elkhart, Indiana. He funneled dozens, sometimes hundreds, of checks and wire transfers with insufficient funds through three banks, artificially inflating the amount in his accounts. He siphoned off about $73 million for himself.
He used the money to fund a lavish lifestyle that included expensive vacations, mansions in Arizona and Michigan and properties in Florida and Montana, as well as planes and yachts. His massive car collection included pristine vintage Ferraris, Fiats and Jaguars.
Khan had plead guilty to bank fraud and attempted tax evasion. His attorneys said he had helped his victims recover some funds, in part by selling off his car collection that fetched about $40 million at auction.
Prosecutors said that when Khan’s scheme collapsed, about 1,700 of his clients lost out on money Khan’s company had withdrawn for payroll taxes. Those companies included small- and mid-sized businesses, nonprofits and charities, including the Boy Scouts of America and four Catholic dioceses.
Some victims had to pay the IRS or their employees out of their own pockets or take out lines of credit, prosecutors said. Others laid off employees.
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Houston’s Mayor, Sylvester Turner, attended the Fidelity International Trade & Creative Connect (FITCC) conference where he gave an opening speech emphasizing the significance of hosting such a global event in the fourth-largest city in the United States. October 24-25, Fidelity Bank Plc. Nigeria premiered this international trade and creative fair attracting the brightest minds and industry leaders to explore the ever-evolving landscape of international trade, exports, and creative connections.
Houston’s Mayor, Sylvester Turner is being introduced to Mustafa Chike-Obi, Chairman of Fidelity Bank Nigeria by event facilitator, Linda Anukwuem.
Houston’s Mayor, Sylvester Turner is being introduced to the President of Afreximbank, Professor Benedict Oramah
To Mayor Turner, this event meant so much to his administrative agenda regarding global commerce. For instance, he just led a three-country trade mission to West Africa. He will out-serve his tenure next month, making this event his last endeavor to strengthen the City’s business ties with Africa.
Houston’s Mayor, Sylvester Turner greets the President of Afreximbank, Professor Benedict Oramah
Houston is designated as a hub for international commerce, known as the energy capital of the world, and a global leader in healthcare, aeronautics, advanced manufacturing, and innovation. Besides having the largest Nigerian population in the country, the city remains the most diverse, with over 2.5 million residents. The city also holds the largest port in the U.S. in foreign tonnage, two international airports, and the largest medical center in the world. In addition, more than 5,000 Houston companies are engaged in international business, and approximately 1,000 Houston firms report foreign ownership.
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