All is set for stakeholders in the energy sector to deepen discussion and create awareness on the economic possibilities of Nigeria’s gas sector. The conference, organised by the Energy Trade Group of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry is billed for March 29 and 30, 2022 at the organisation’s convention center in the nation’s capital. Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Director-General of ACCI, Victoria Akai, said the summit was necessary at this time, following the current conflict in Europe and how it has precipitated an energy crisis. According to her, the crisis must serve as a lesson…
Author: Temitope N.
The Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) has unveiled plans to invest over €15 million in its bid to increase its solar generation to about 15 megawatts before the end of 2022. Besides, the company stated that the move was part of its uncompromising commitment to minimize its carbon footprint in the country. The Managing Director, NBC, Matthieu Seguin, at a media tour of its Ikeja plant, said the company has been embarking on a series of steady investments towards sustainable manufacturing and transition to renewable energy sources as a way of accelerating the delivery of its net zero commitment. By the…
As financial institutions fend off cyber attacks, experts say banks are vulnerable because they lack technologies that could be deployed to ensure transactions and customers’ assets are safe. Speaking at a financial services cyber security workshop held in Lagos, Managing Director, ActivEdge Technologies, George Agu, said it is time banks deploy zero trust security to tackle attacks. According to him, one of the ways to ensure that cyber attacks are minimal is to ensure that the gatekeepers are up-to-date with the various technologies that could be deployed to ensure that customers can carry out transactions with their eyes closed. He…
The state of the Nigerian economy requires the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to intervene in sectors that can stem unbridled imports. The Governor of the apex bank, Godwin Emefiele, who disclosed this yesterday, while declaring open the 32nd seminar for Finance Correspondents and Business Editors in Akure, Ondo State, insisted that the CBN interventions are meant to stabilise the economy. An Economist, Dr Tope Fasua, in his presentation, gave a glimpse of the possible reasons governments are cautious with the adoption of cryptocurrency. Fasua argued that the ability to escape taxation might lead to the collapse of the government’s…
Over two million Subscribers Identification Modules (SIM) cards were activated in the first month of 2022 and were shared by the mobile network operators (MNOs). Latest statistics from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) showed that the quartet of MTN, Globacom, Airtel and 9mobile shared 2,024,509 subscribers in January 2022. The new entrants pushed the country’s mobile subscriptions from 195.5 million in December 2021 to 197.4 million a month after. This figure also impacted the country’s teledensity, which increased by 1.06 per cent. It moved from 102.40 per cent last year to 103.46 per cent in the first month of 2022.…
Financial technology company, Tingo Mobile Plc has disclosed a new platform to end challenges facing end-users in Nigeria. The new platform, an all-in-one financial solution application aimed at addressing challenges for Small and Medium Scale (SMEs) businesses and in extension all bank customers with smart phones, the Tingo Pay Super App will tackle the challenge of limited payment options for users. Chief Operating Officer, Tingo Mobile Plc, Alao Ayoade, while announcing the move yesterday, said the new solution will address the challenge of inability to resolve transaction issues on time with banks, provide business continuity due to funds, provide multiple…
Nigeria’s foreign reserves continued its downward slope, a trend formed towards the end of last year after it failed to sustain a momentary recovery witnessed in October. The gross figure, which has remained a consistent gradual depletion in the past five months, dropped to $39.54 billion on Tuesday. Year-to-date (YTD), the external reserves shed $975.7 million. Last year closed with an estimated reserve gross value of $40.52 billion. The reserves suffered a wobbling performance last year, tumbling below $34 billion at some point. A breather, however, came with $3.35 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s special drawing rights (SDR) and Eurobond…
The U.S. Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration has supplied $2million worth of equipment to Nigeria to help strengthen Nigeria’s counter-nuclear smuggling capacity. This was revealed in a press statement on Friday by the public affairs section of the U.S consulate general. The equipment was donated through the U.S Office of Nuclear Smuggling Detection and Deterrence (NSDD), and it includes five new mobile radiation detection systems valued at over $2 million. Jon Dvorak, the U.S. Consulate Assistant Regional Security Officer in his remark noted that the equipment donation was an important step in advancing the robust US-Nigeria security cooperation. Mr…
The United States Government on Friday added 6 Nigerians to a list of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons due to their financial, material and technology support of the terrorist group, Boko Haram. The action follows the United Arab Emirates’ prosecutions, convictions, and designations of these individuals for supporting terrorism. This disclosure is contained in a press statement issued by the United States Department of States and signed by its spokesperson, Ned Price. The statement listed the 6 Nigerians added to the list to include Abdurrahman Ado Musa, Salihu Yusuf Adamu, Bashir Ali Yusuf, Muhammed Ibrahim Isa, Ibrahim Ali Alhassan,…
The Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Abiodun Alabi, has reiterated the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) ban on the practice of police officers carrying out their official duties while on mufti and called on members of the public to report any officer violating this directive to enable the command take appropriate disciplinary action. The commissioner strongly and unequivocally warned all Area Commanders, Tactical Commanders and Divisional Police Officers (DPO) in the Lagos State to ensure strict compliance of this directive by their men. This disclosure is contained in a statement issued by the Public Relations Officer of the command, SP…
The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has disclosed that the rehabilitation of the 200-kilometre Minna-Baro railway track will cost the Federal Government more than N80 billion. The completion of the project will afford people the opportunity to ply the Lagos-Abuja-Kano route with ease. According to NAN, this was made known by the Managing Director of NRC, Fidet Okhiria, during a meeting with officials of the construction firm, Chinese Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), on Friday in Minna. Okhiria who said that they plan to complete the project within 3 years, assured that the government will make funds available for it. He…
OkHi, a smart addressing startup has secured $1.5 million seed extension to further its goal of increasing efficiency across key sectors in Nigeria. While the new funding brings the total funding to $3 million, the startup says the development will enable it to hasten its goal of verifying the addresses of more than one million Nigerians to enhance accessibility and efficient delivery services. The round saw existing investors such as Founders Factory Africa, Betatron, and Interswitch Group as well as new investors, the likes of; Chapel Hill Denham, Flutterwave’s founder and executives, and EXFI (a syndicate of ex-Googlers). Timbo Drayson,…
Oxford International Group, Vektr Capital Investment and Farmforte Agro-Allied Solutions Limited have reacted to their recently sealed offices by the Security and Exchange Commission for reasons bothering on unlicensed and alleged illegal investment activities. According to SEC in a statement, the three investment companies’ offices in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja were shut down for executing investment operations that fall within the ambit of fund management without registration. The SEC statement read, “These companies do not have registration of the SEC to conduct fund management activities and have been found to promise exorbitant rates of returns to lure investors. The SEC…
African mobility fintech, Moove has raised $105 million in new Series A2 financing to provide vehicle financing to drivers of ride-hailing platforms like Uber and other gig networks in seven new markets across Asia, Europe and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) over the next 6 months. The new fund follows its recently secured $10 million in debt financing a month ago and $23 million Series A round in August, last year. The startup said with the fund, it will model its gig drivers in other vehicle classes such as three-wheelers and buses. The funding round was led by…
Spleet, a Nigerian prop-tech startup, has received a $625,000 pre-seed funding round as it looks to further its drive to provide tenants with affordable loans to help them pay their rent. The funding is an oversubscribed pre-seed round, which was led by MetaProp VC including other participants like Future Africa, FEDHA Capital, VFD Group, Moonshot VC, HoaQ, Squarefoot CEO Jonathan Wassersturm, Flutterwave CEO Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola, and others. According to the startup, the funding will be used to build Spleet’s newest rent financing product ‘Rent Now Pay Later’ and other products to enable seamless residential rental processes as it is…
Co-founder and CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg has said that Non-Fungible Token, NFTs, will be coming to Instagram soon. According to the CEO, the development – still on the way – would see the integration of non-fungible tokens into the company’s photo and video sharing app as the Instagram team is currently working out some of the technical challenges. Casey Newton, writer of The Verge’s Platformer newsletter, tweeted that Zuckerberg also said that “hopefully” in the coming months, Instagram members will be able to mint their own non-fungible tokens (NFT) within the app. He said, “We’re working on bringing NFTs to Instagram…
Co-founder and CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg has said that Non-Fungible Token, NFTs, will be coming to Instagram soon. According to the CEO, the development – still on the way – would see the integration of non-fungible tokens into the company’s photo and video sharing app as the Instagram team is currently working out some of the technical challenges. Casey Newton, writer of The Verge’s Platformer newsletter, tweeted that Zuckerberg also said that “hopefully” in the coming months, Instagram members will be able to mint their own non-fungible tokens (NFT) within the app. He said, “We’re working on bringing NFTs to…
You know how all your friends are currently using your Netflix login details? Netflix knows it too, and is testing a new way of allowing account sharing, but for an additional fee. Sharing your Netflix password with someone for free outside your household may soon become a thing of the past. In a news release posted to its website Wednesday, the streaming giant announced that it will begin testing ways to make users sharing an account outside the household pay for the additional members. “We’ve always made it easy for people who live together to share their Netflix account, with features like…
ThriveAgric, a technology-driven agricultural company, secured $56.4 million in debt funding from commercial banks and institutional investors. Additionally, the company received a $1.75million co-investment grant from West Africa Trade & Investment, which is funded by USAID. As a result of the new investment, the company will be able to expand its 200,000+ farmer base, as well as enter new markets in Africa, including Ghana, Zambia, and Kenya. By accessing credit and improving productivity and sales, ThriveAgric promotes food security by helping farmers in Nigeria sell their products to FMCGs and food processors. The company was founded in 2017 and has…
A fire incident has the popular Apongbon Under Bridge Market in Lagos, razing shops and properties worth millions of nairas. According to sources present at the scene, the fire started at around 4:00am Wednesday morning. It is not yet clear what caused the fire, but no casualty has been reported so far. The unfortunate incident has already caused heavy traffic Eko and Carter bridges as Eko Bridge in particular, has been heavily affected by the inferno. The federal and Lagos fire services are currently at the scene of the incident, trying to put out the fire. Officials of LASEMA and…