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3000 Lose Jobs As 20 Shipping Firms Shutdown
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
No fewer than 20 shipping companies have shut operations in Nigeria due to unfavourable government policies. This has led to the retrenchment of over 3000 workers in the last one year, the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) disclosed on Thursday.
President-General of MWUN, Tony Nted, while addressing newsmen at a press briefing in Lagos, further said the management of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) is also planning to sack a section of the dockworkers, especially the Tally Clerks and Onboard Security men in spite of their importance and relevance in the port operations.
He lamented that the jobs of over 2000 workers were also on the line and called on President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene to save the sector from imminent collapse.
Mr Nted, who declined to name the affected shipping companies, however warned that many more shipping companies were on the verge of folding up and were only doing skeletal services at the moment.
“Today, we lament the action of the management of Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) in also planning to sack a section of the dockworkers, especially the Tally Clerks and Onboard Security men in spite of their importance and relevance in the port operations, as it affects the reoccurring scourge of tonnage under declaration and its negative impact on the nation’s economy.
“Over 2000 workers (tally clerks and onboard security men) are involved. Their reinstatement will go a long way in reducing the number of unemployed Nigerians, and also reducing the misery of their families,” he told newsmen at the briefing.
Mr Nted, on behalf of the union, demanded among others that, “All access roads to the ports as a matter of urgency, should be expanded and rehabilitated to handle cargo traffic in the ports.
“The traditional rail operations in our seaports should be restored to reduce the pressure on our highways and daily fatal accidents and deaths from containers. Waterways should be developed for delivery of laden containers and heavy equipment through our coastal waters into the hinterland.
“The tank-farms which are now dangerously located close to the ports, residential areas and along the expressways and access roads close to the ports should be relocated far away from the seaports to stave-off the perennial gridlocks on the roads.
“The volume of vehicles imported into Nigeria through Nigerian ports has collapsed to an all-time low, with consequent loss of thousands of jobs in the maritime sector.
“The new duty regime for vehicles introduced since 2004 and application of the new rate of exchange rate for duty calculations have made the importation of cars and trucks into Nigeria far too expensive. In the last two years, the number of vehicles arriving Nigeria has shrunk by almost two thirds, while the volume of cars smuggled through the Cotonou border has continued to rise unabated. It is therefore necessary that the Federal Government reviews its stance on the Automative policy so as not to inflict any more suffering on the workers who are already having a hard time with price increases every day.
“The Federal Government should look at making the importation of cars and trucks more competitive to enable the economy to grow. A significant reduction in the duties applicable on cars and trucks will go a long way in alleviating the challenges of our people and spur economic activities.
“Government should, as a matter of urgency, adopt policies towards resuscitating the export of agricultural produces and mineral resources that were hitherto the main stay of the Nigerian economy before the discovery of oil. This will no doubt create jobs in our seaports and increase revenue for the government.”
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
An institutional investor, First Ally Capital, has strengthened a leading Nigerian financial technology company, Mathesis Analytics, to scale its proprietary credit decisioning infrastructure.
It made this possible by injecting fresh capital into the firm, which specialises in AI-powered credit decisioning infrastructure, an action that will directly support the growth and scaling of Mathesis’ core mission of providing the intelligence and infrastructure needed to bridge the credit gap for millions of unscored or underscored individuals across Nigeria.
With this investment, Mathesis will enable financial institutions to confidently assess and extend credit to borrowers who lack a formal credit history by leveraging an expanded pool of alternative behavioural and transactional data.
To date, Mathesis’ systems have supported more than 8 million loans for over 2 million unique borrowers in Nigeria, and the company is actively deploying its infrastructure to establish a growing pan-African footprint.
With the investment from First Ally Capital, Mathesis is well positioned to transform how the credit ecosystem operates, driving financial inclusion in partnership with lenders across the continent.
A significant barrier to credit access in Nigeria, which prides itself on being Africa’s largest economy, is data fragmentation. Borrowers frequently build positive financial behaviours across multiple digital platforms by repaying microfinance loans, saving through fintech wallets, or servicing Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) facilities.
However, under traditional credit infrastructure, these achievements remain invisible to new lenders.
Mathesis addresses this challenge through the concept of Personal Equity—the quantified expression of an individual’s financial behaviour aggregated across every institution with which they have transacted.
By translating these disparate signals into a precise, portable measure of creditworthiness, Mathesis creates a comprehensive credit identity that reflects the full breadth of a person’s financial life.
“True financial inclusion cannot be achieved in a vacuum; it requires structural collaboration in which lenders and fintech companies work as partners within the ecosystem.
“This investment from First Ally Capital validates our approach to reshaping credit infrastructure. By quantifying Personal Equity, we empower lenders to safely look beyond the constraints of formal credit histories and recognise a borrower’s true creditworthiness. This capital enables us to accelerate our pan-African expansion while maintaining the robust, institutional-grade infrastructure our partners rely on,” the chief executive of Mathesis Analytics, Winston Osuchukwu, stated.
On his part, the chief executive of First Ally Capital, Mr Ebenezer Olufowose, said, “At First Ally Capital, we pride ourselves on being a one-stop destination for financial solutions, offering a diverse portfolio of services ranging from investment banking and asset management to trusteeship, inclusive banking, and real estate.
“Our investment in Mathesis Analytics reflects our strong belief in the company’s vision and our commitment to supporting forward-thinking enterprises that deliver excellence.”
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The chief executive of Canal+ Africa, Mr David Mignot, has disclosed that MultiChoice is now fully integrated into the media group.
Mr Mignot disclosed this via a statement issued on Thursday, noting that this development marks a new phase in the evolution of one of Africa’s leading pay television operators.
He noted that the integration positions MultiChoice within a global media organisation with an extensive international footprint.
“MultiChoice is now a full subsidiary of a truly international media group operating in 70 countries. The group was founded in France, is listed in London and Johannesburg, and has a strong African presence with operations in more than 45 countries,” Mr Mignot said.
The statement underscores the scale of the combined business, highlighting Canal+’s global reach alongside its significant investments across Africa.
The completion of the transaction is expected to strengthen MultiChoice’s position in the African media and entertainment market by giving it access to the broader resources, expertise and international capabilities of the Canal+ Group, while reinforcing the group’s commitment to the continent.
MultiChoice operates across sub-Saharan Africa through platforms including DStv and GOtv, serving millions of subscribers with entertainment, sports and news content.
By Adedapo Adesanya
FoodCourt, a Nigerian cloud kitchen startup backed by Y Combinator, has suspended operations after months of unpaid salaries and mounting debts to vendors triggered a staff strike and forced the company to halt customer orders, according to a report by TechCabal.
The publication reported that customers first noticed on March 4 that they could no longer place orders through the FoodCourt app after the company disabled ordering as kitchen workers, delivery personnel and branch staff embarked on strike over unpaid wages. The company also owed outstanding payments to vendors.
By April 19, FoodCourt had temporarily shut its last operating branch after suspending activities across its Lagos and Abuja locations while seeking fresh funding and restructuring the business, according to the report.
The company’s chief executive, Mr Henry Nneji, said the decision to pause operations was not caused by a single issue but by a combination of operational, organisational and working-capital challenges.
“It’s important to clarify that the decision to pause operations wasn’t driven by one single issue. We reached a point where it became clear that continuing to patch those issues while operating wasn’t the right long-term decision,” he said.
“The objective is to build a stronger business than the one that existed before the suspension. We fully intend to bring FoodCourt back,” he added in an emailed response.
The company acknowledged outstanding obligations to employees, vendors, riders and service providers, but declined to disclose the number of affected workers or the total amount owed. It said efforts were underway to resolve the liabilities as part of its restructuring process.
It was also reported that the startup’s financial difficulties worsened after expansion into additional locations increased operating costs, while its cloud kitchen model came under pressure from rising labour, logistics, food and marketing expenses.
Despite the shutdown, Mr Nneji said FoodCourt intends to relaunch after completing its restructuring, adding that the company believes demand for its products remains strong.
Founded in 2021 by Henry Nneji and Paul Adokiye Iruene, FoodCourt operates cloud kitchens under multiple virtual restaurant brands through its consumer app. According to TechCabal, the startup had previously disclosed raising $1.7 million, delivering more than one million meals and reaching $4.3 million in annual recurring revenue by the end of 2024.
