General
Nigerian Among Africa’s Leading Architects
By Dipo Olowookere
At a gala awards ceremony held on the rooftop of the Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town, the inaugural Grand Prix and Category Winners of the Africa Architecture Awards were announced on the evening of Thursday, September 28, 2017.
Over 130 VIP guests were in attendance at this glittering event, including the Consul-General of France in Cape Town, Mr Laurent Amar, the Chairman of the French South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Philip Geromont, and Claude van Wyk of the Kingdom of The Netherlands Consulate General in Cape Town.
The shortlisted finalists were flown into South Africa from across the continent and the world, and hosted by awards founder and sponsor Saint-Gobain.
The much-anticipated gala was the culmination of an ambitious two-year awards programme that was initiated and supported by construction industry innovator Saint-Gobain with the ultimate aim of stimulating conversations about African architecture as it cements its place in a global continuum. The Africa Architecture Awards is the first-ever Pan-African awards programme of its kind.
A steering panel headed by Professor Lesley Lokko guided the awards with strategic input from Ambassador Phill Mashabane, advisor Zahira Asmal, and patron Sir David Adjaye, one of the globe’s most influential voices in architecture.
According to Adjaye, “The Africa Architecture Awards are very critical. Now is the time to promote excellence and best practice on the continent. The Africa Architecture Awards are particularly important because this is the moment that a lot is happening on the continent in terms of development, in terms of the architecture that’s being produced.”
Adjaye’s statement is borne out by the high level of interest the competition has received from architects working on projects located in Africa. Over 300 projects from 32 African countries were entered into the awards.
For the inaugural edition of the Africa Architecture Awards, the organisers set themselves an initial target of 150 entries from 20 African countries. Consider then, what a huge task faced the Master Jury when the awards exceeded all expectations and grew to 307 entries from 32 countries in Africa – more than double the size of what was initially envisaged.
The initial shortlist of 21 projects was chosen by the Master Jury and announced earlier in 2017. Chaired by Dr Mark Olweny, the jury comprised leading African architects and academics including: Anna Abengowe (Nigeria), Guillaume Koffi (Ivory Coast), Professor Edgar Pieterse (South Africa), Patti Anahory (Cape Verde), Tanzeem Razak (South Africa), and Phill Mashabane (South Africa).
The Master Jury then reconvened for two days prior to the awards ceremony to evaluate the 21 shortlisted projects and decide on the most deserving entries across four categories.
Through the Master Jury’s dedication and considered response to an unprecedented challenge, the final category winners – each of whom received a specially designed bronze trophy – were decided as follows: Critical Dialogue: Forum de Arquitectura – by CEICA, Angola; Speculative: The Territory In-between, Cape Verde – by Guinea’s Aissata Balde, Graduate School of Architecture, University of Johannesburg; Emerging Voices: The Exchange Consulate: Trading Passports for Hyper-Performative Economic Enclaves, South Africa – by Nigerian student Ogundare Olawale Israel of the Graduate School of Architecture, University of Johannesburg; Built: Umkhumbane Museum, South Africa – by Choromanski Architects, South Africa.
The Grand Prix was awarded to the project that best describes the ultimate objective of the Africa Architecture Awards, which is to inspire the future of African architecture. The Grand Prix winner received both a bespoke trophy and the cash prize of USD$10 000. Umkhumbane Museum, South Africa by Choromanski Architects was named the overall winner.
In addition to the projects highlighted by the Master Jury, the awards programme ran a public participation component earlier in 2017, where members of the public could vote for their favourite project. The People’s Choice Award had over a million viewers and votes across a range of projects stretching from kiosks to urban regeneration schemes. The winning project received a Certificate of Excellence at the ceremony and this went to James Cubitt Architects Lagos for the speculative project titled Bank Head Office in Lagos, Nigeria.
Commenting on the outcome of the first iteration of the awards, the MD of Saint-Gobain Retail Division, Evan Lockhart-Barker states that, “Although this is only the first edition of the Africa Architecture Awards, we believe we have captured an incredible moment in time for Pan-African architecture. Having launched the first-ever awards of its kind, we’ve seen the incredible response from architects working across the continent. The values and aspirations displayed in the awards have led to incredible insights about the continent and its shape-shifting ways.”
“Yet we still have a way to go to write our own story about architecture and its role here. Africa is indeed rising but due to the continent’s resourcefulness and complex regional identities, we’ve already learnt that our awards programme requires even more diversity to capture Africa and all its spectrums. We look to future editions of the awards to achieve this.”
Following the awards ceremony on the Thursday evening, a thought-provoking public colloquium titled ‘Celebrating Architecture in Africa’ was held on Friday, 29 September 2017 at the University of Cape Town. With a speaker line-up of 21 specialists from across the world, the free event, which was also supported by Saint-Gobain, provided a platform to discuss the awards in more detail and explore architecture within the African context.
Providing access to information about architecture in Africa and ensuring that this knowledge is shared widely and freely to the continent is a primary and ongoing aim of the awards. This is evidenced in events such as the colloquium, as well as publications such as the Africa Architecture Awards’ digital portal, Documenting all 307 projects entered into the awards via video, images and text, this digital asset now stands as one of the most vibrant and extensive repositories of contemporary African architecture to date.
Described as the “4th Revolution” in Africa, digital channels and technology shift paradigms daily on the continent. From the outset, awards founder Saint-Gobain has embraced the role of digital media to promote architectural practice and dialogue to broader audiences than traditionally enjoyed by institutional award structures.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government has issued a data protection compliance circular to all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to promote public trust through data-driven governance.
The compliance directive is contained in Circular No. 59805/S.I/74, dated 27 July 2026, and signed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr George Akume, according to a statement by the Head, Legal, Enforcement & Regulations, Mr Babatunde Bamigboye.
The initiative forms part of a continuum of regulatory measures that will be vigorously pursued as Nigeria advances towards the decisive frontiers of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
The circular drew the attention of MDAs to a statement of President Bola Tinubu, where he said: “Data is the new oil”.
Mr Akume then directed all Ministries, Extra-Ministerial Departments and Agencies to capture the information rigorously and safeguard it under the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023 (NDP Act).
The circular also directed MDAs to ensure full compliance with the NDP Act, Regulations, Guidelines, and Directives issued by the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) in relation to the processing of personal data.
To this end, the Circular directs MDAs to, designate suitably qualified officers as Data Protection Officers (DPOs) to oversee data protection compliance and advise management on all matters relating to the lawful processing of personal data, ensure that the names and contact details of their designated DPOs are communicated to the NDPC for registration and official records; engage licensed Data Protection Compliance Organisations (DPCOs), where required, to facilitate compliance with the NDP Act and support the conduct of statutory compliance audits.
It also directed them to provide adequate budgetary allocation for data protection compliance activities, including capacity building, awareness programmes, deployment of appropriate technical safeguards, and periodic compliance audits; and submit all mandatory Data Protection Compliance Audit Returns and other statutory returns to the NDPC within the timelines prescribed by law.
The circular further states that “Permanent Secretaries, Accounting Officers and Chief Executive Officers of all MDAs shall be personally responsible for ensuring institutional compliance with the Circular and the provisions of the NDP Act.”
The National Commissioner/Chief Executive Officer of the NDPC, Mr Vincent Olatunji, expressed the commission’s commitment to supporting data-driven governance.
Mr Olatunji maintained that data accountability is pivotal to achieving the eight Presidential Priorities. To provide full technical support to MDAs for the purpose of achieving compliance, the commission has constituted a regulatory clinic.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Yellow Card, a global stablecoin infrastructure provider, has raised $40 million in a strategic funding round to accelerate its international expansion and strengthen its digital payment infrastructure.
The funding round attracted investments from SC Ventures, the innovation and investment arm of Standard Chartered, Sony Innovation Fund, Polychain Capital, Blockchain Capital, and other strategic investors. With the latest raise, Yellow Card’s total equity financing has now exceeded $120 million.
The company said the fresh capital will be used to scale its Global US Dollar Accounts, an end-to-end dollar account designed for businesses, while expanding the stablecoin payment rails that connect businesses to markets around the world.
Yellow Card’s chief executive, Mr Chris Maurice, described the investment as a strong endorsement of the company’s long-term vision, noting that the company has spent years building infrastructure that allows businesses to move money globally without relying on traditional correspondent banking systems.
He added that the next phase of growth will focus on helping banks connect directly to stablecoin payment rails, enabling faster and more efficient cross-border transactions while expanding access to US Dollar services for businesses.
SC Ventures chief executive, Mr Alex Manson, said stablecoins are becoming an important part of global payments, but noted that widespread adoption will depend on reliable infrastructure and practical use cases.
He said Yellow Card has built the payment rails businesses across Africa need to move money efficiently across borders and expressed confidence in the company’s ability to expand both within Africa and internationally.
The investment also marks growing interest from global institutions in stablecoin-based payments. Sony Innovation Fund said its backing reflects confidence in Yellow Card’s ability to build digital payment infrastructure for emerging markets.
Mr Austin Noronha, Managing Director at Sony Ventures-US, said the company believes Yellow Card is creating the technology needed to help banks, financial technology firms and enterprises move money faster and more securely.
He added that the company looks forward to supporting Yellow Card as it expands beyond Africa into Latin America, the Middle East, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.
Yellow Card said the funding will also support the wider rollout of its Global USD Accounts, which allow businesses to hold U.S. dollars, manage treasury operations, swap stablecoins, and collect or make payments in local currencies across more than 50 countries.
The company noted that the platform is already being used by major customers, including Visa and Western Union.
Founded to simplify cross-border payments through digital assets, Yellow Card has processed more than $10 billion in transactions across its network. The company supports over 50 currencies and holds licences, authorisations and registrations in 22 jurisdictions across North America, Europe and Africa.
Yellow Card has also established strategic partnerships with global payment companies including Visa, Mastercard, PayPal and Coinbase as it positions itself as a key infrastructure provider for international digital payments.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Economic Council (NEC) has approved a $4.5 billion arrangement for the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited aimed at strengthening the country’s external reserves and freeing up funds for infrastructure.
This is part of the refinancing of the $3.3 billion Project Gazelle Pre-Export Finance Facility through a new $4.5 billion facility named “Project Gazelle 2”.
The approval allows NNPC Limited to refinance the outstanding balance of approximately $1.5 billion under the original 2023 facility, while unlocking an additional $3 billion in liquidity to strengthen the country’s external reserves and support ongoing fiscal and infrastructure priorities of the government.
NEC’s approval followed a presentation by the Minister of Finance, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, which was presented by the Chairman of the Council, Vice President Kashim Shettima, underscoring the importance of the project.
NEC observed the significance of unlocking additional liquidity to the federation, among other benefits, pledging its support for the actualisation of the initiative.
The Finance Minister explained that the refinancing has been structured on more favourable terms than the original facility, including a reduction in the volume of pledged crude oil from 90,000 barrels of oil per day to approximately 78,750 barrels of oil per day – a 12.5 per cent reduction.
He noted that under the new arrangement, an additional 11,250 barrels of oil per day for the federation will be released, while there will be a reduction in the pledged crude volumes by the state oil company.
Mr Oyedele added that while accessing additional liquidity on improved terms, the arrangement is freeing up resources for strategic national priorities while strengthening the country’s financing structures.
“The arrangement is freeing up resources for strategic national priorities while strengthening the country’s financing structures,” he said.
VP Shettima called for a responsive, scalable, and data-driven social protection policy to tackle multidimensional poverty in Nigeria.
According to Mr Shettima, government policies are often heard before they are seen, speak through the price of food, condition of hospitals, records in schools, strain on families, the confidence of those who invest their labour in the nation’s future, and, very importantly, the ambitions of state governments.
He implored members of Council to ensure that every decision they make assure the citizens “that their government is paying attention to the pulse of the nation and is resolved to respond with competence, compassion and purpose.”
