Universal Insurance Gets NAICOM Nod to Insure Poultry, Fish Farmers

By Aduragbemi Omiyale An application and proprietary solution for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria, known as Aleph Express, has been launched by Aleph Group. A statement from the firm explained that Aleph Express provides a platform for MSMEs to create and maintain a free e-commerce website, create a product catalogue, set local delivery options, manage, record and process orders while gaining meaningful insights to drive growth. The platform also provides one unified inbox that integrates WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram, to enable businesses to efficiently engage and sell – all in one place. In addition, Aleph Express provides

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited commenced the first trading session in December 2023 on a bullish note, with a marginal growth of 0.08 per cent. Sustained buying pressure kept Nigerian stocks in the positive territory, extending the dominance of the bulls on Customs Street, though the turnover waned. Business Post observed that investors cherry-picked equities in the banking and the energy sectors during the session, leaving them rising by 1.14 per cent and 0.05 per cent, respectively. However, the insurance counter lost 1.10 per cent, the consumer goods index depreciated by 0.08 per cent, and the industrial

By Adedapo Adesanya Oil slumped by more than 2 per cent on Friday as traders showed scepticism about the depth of supply cuts by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) as well as concerns about sluggish global manufacturing activity. Brent crude went down by $1.98 or 2.45 per cent to close at $78.88 a barrel as the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped $1.89 or 2.49 per cent to sell for $74.07 a barrel. For the week, Brent posted a decline of about 2.1 per cent, while WTI lost more than 1.9 per cent.

By Adedapo Adesanya Oil fell on Monday as traders approached the market with caution over plans by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) to cut production in the first quarter of 2024. Brent crude futures lost 85 cents or 1.08 per cent to finish at $78.03 a barrel while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures depreciated by $1.03 or 1.39 per cent to sell at $73.04 per barrel. OPEC+ announced voluntary production cuts at its meeting last week and this has raised doubts about whether or not producers would fully implement them. Investors

By Dipo Olowookere The second edition of Global Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament (GSWS 2016), hosted by the UAE Federal National Council in collaboration with Inter-Parliamentary Union, under the theme ‘United for Shaping the Future’, concluded in the UAE capital city of Abu Dhabi Tuesday. The event witnessed the participation of 34 high-profile global women speakers of parliament, around 400 parliamentary representatives and more than 1,000 delegates with diverse expertise – including scientists, influencers, policy makers, entrepreneurs and government representatives. A first-of-its-kind in the world, the summit comprised a series of panel sessions that addressed political, social, economic, environmental,

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) announced on Monday night that 229 new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) were reported in the country in the last 24 hours. In its daily announcement, the agency said most of the cases were recorded from Lagos, the epicentre of the pandemic in Nigeria. The latest addition has brought the total confirmed coronavirus cases in Nigeria to 8,068 since the index case was reported in February 27, 2020 in Nigeria. The NCDC said in the last 24 hours, Lagos recorded 90 fresh cases followed by Katsina with 27, Imo with 26,

By Dipo Olowookere The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has approved the appointments of Mr Henry Oroh and Mr Al-Mujtaba Abubakar to the board of Zenith Bank Plc. A statement from the financial institution disclosed that while Mr Oroh will serve on the board as an executive director, Mr Abubakar is joining as an independent non-executive director. According to Zenith Bank, their appointments were also approved by the board of directors of the bank and were in consistent with lender’s tradition and succession strategy of grooming leaders from within. They are expected to resume their new roles from Sunday, September

By Obiaruko Ndukwe The discordant tunes in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that once held sway for 16 years in the reins of power in Nigeria has taken a new turn as a major plan was hatched over a year now by the Governors elected under the party in the old Eastern region. The decision to swell up the ranks of the ruling All Peoples Congress (APC) by these Governors who have actually held tight the party’s stronghold in the South East and the South-South States is part of a planned coup to ouster the owners of APC in

By Dipo Olowookere More than 4.8 million orders were processed at the Jumia 2020 Black Friday period, with over 55 per cent of the packages reaching customers in less than 24 hours, Business Post has learned. Also, over 113 million customers visited the Jumia platform in the period, with over 1.5 billion page views. In addition, the 2020 Jumia black Friday videos had three times more views than the 2019 edition, with over 99 million views recorded. According to Jumia, there was a huge growth in sales for sellers on the platform as over 41,500 sellers used the platforms to

By Dipo Olowookere Vice-Chancellor of the University of Maiduguri (UniMaid), Prof Ibrahim Njodi, has described the July 25, 2017 attack on a team of specialists in search of commercial hydrocarbon deposits in the Chad Basin by suspected Boko Haram terrorists as an act of God. The VC made this comment over the weekend in Maiduguri, Borno State, while receiving a delegation from the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) led by Engr Saidu Mohammed, Chief Operating Officer in charge of gas and power unit of the agency. Mr Njodi said

By Dipo Olowookere The Abuja premises of Apple & Pears Ltd, makers of some food products like Laziz vegetable oil, Laziz salad and Laziz mayonnaise has been sealed by the federal government. The firm was shut down by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) after it received information from consumers that the company was allegedly selling expired products. A statement by the CEO of the agency, Mr Babatunde Irukera, disclosed that the organisation was closed his men on Tuesday, August 11, 2020. Mr Irukera said during the operation, the commission uncovered what appeared to be unapproved and unsafe

By Ahmed Rahma Ghana on Wednesday, February 24, 2021, became the first country on the African continent to receive 600,000 AstraZeneca/Oxford doses of COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccines were acquired from the World Health Organisation (WHO) through the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX), a humanitarian vaccine distribution mechanism. The arrival represents the start of a massive COVID-19 vaccination campaign encompassing 20 African countries. In a joint statement, WHO Ghana representative, Mr Francis Kasolo, and UNICEF Ghana representative, Anne-Claire Dufay, said, “This is a momentous occasion, as the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccines into Ghana is critical in bringing the pandemic to