Education
Bloomberg Expands Financial Journalism Training to New Countries
The Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa’s (BMIA) has announced the expansion of its Financial Journalism Training (FJT) program to Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Tanzania, joining Ghana and Zambia where training programs launched earlier this year.
A statement issued by the BMIA explained that the expansion to Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire will see the exercise delivered in Francophone Africa for the first time.
Since 2014 when it first started, the scheme has graduated 189 Nigerian journalists to advance financial journalism and improve access to accurate, reliable data on the continent.
The first phase of the program has directly impacted more than 1,000 key individuals, the media outlets they influence and the people they serve across three of Africa’s leading economies: Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.
The training program in Nigeria was delivered in partnership with the University of Lagos Department of Mass Communication and Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos Business School.
It aims to increase the number of skilled financial journalists and analysts, who are better able to interpret business, finance and economics and cover critical economic development issues on the continent. Graduates from the program are now employed by some of Nigeria’s leading media houses including This Day, Punch, Guardian Newspapers, News Agency of Nigeria and BusinessDay Media Limited.
Partner business and journalism schools in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa can now elect to permanently adopt the course, ensuring that future journalists will contribute to the development of a globally competitive media and financial reporting in Africa.
Founder of Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Philanthropies, Mr Michael Bloomberg, said, “Reliable, accessible financial reporting is critical to driving sustainable economic growth and good governance.
“The expansion of the Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa to five new countries will significantly further our mission to advance financial journalism and transparency on the continent.”
It was disclosed that with the expansion to the new countries, more than 100 delegates will take part in the first intake of the training that will be offered in partnership with university partners in each country. This unique educational offering will support the development of financial journalism and contribute to African economic growth.
Four intakes of the interactive, hands-on Training Program were previously offered in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa graduating 568 delegates from 13 countries. Close to 70 percent of delegates were journalists and representatives of the media. The first intakes in Ghana and Zambia are currently underway and have enrolled 91 delegates.
During the next six months, the delegates will spend 19 days in interactive sessions led by prominent faculty at local universities and will cover topics to strengthen their skills in and understanding of data analysis, capital markets, accounting, public policy, economics and the transforming media landscape.
Financial journalism sessions will be taught by Bloomberg News reporters. Delegates will also receive a free, six-month subscription to the Bloomberg Terminal, offering access to global data, news and analysis.
The Financial Journalism Training program is a core component of the BMIA, which aims to contribute to the advancement of business and financial reporting in Africa. The BMIA is a project of Bloomberg Philanthropies. The FJT program in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Senegal, Tanzania, and Zambia will also receive support from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.
“We are very excited to see the start of this new phase of the Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa Financial Journalism Training program.
“The Stavros Niarchos Foundation is proud to partner with Bloomberg in helping equip a global talent pool of journalists with the sort of specialist expertise that can propel them towards attaining a high level of professional excellence.
“This is the basis of a robust, ethical, independent press, which now seems to be more critical than ever,” said Andreas Dracopoulos, Co-President of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).
Since its launch in 2014, BMIA has reached more than 1,000 stakeholders in Africa. BMIA has also sponsored four annual conferences for media owners and senior leaders in business, government and civil society, with the most recent taking place in Livingstone in November 2018, with 320 leaders representing 25 countries in attendance.
The program has also offered a Fellowship for editors and senior journalists, which has been completed by 45 Fellows and a fund to promote community media and citizen journalism – the Community Media Fund – which ten organizations have received grants from in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. The Ford Foundation has been a leading supporter of these programs.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Mr Ishaq Oloyede, has admitted to errors from the examination body leading to mass failure during the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
“What should have been a moment of joy has changed due to one or two errors,” Mr Oloyede said during an ongoing press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday.
The 2025 UTME, one of the first two exams towards tertiary institution admission in Nigeria, recorded a high rate of low marks as over 1.5 million of the 1.9 million candidates reportedly scored below 200 out of the maximum 400 marks.
Giving a breakdown, JAMB said a total of 1,955,069 results were processed, out of which only 4,756 candidates (0.24 per cent) scored 320 and above, considered top-tier performance, while 7,658 candidates (0.39 per cent) scored between 300 and 319, bringing the total for those who scored 300 and above to 12,414 candidates (0.63 per cent).
Also, 73,441 candidates (3.76 per cent) scored between 250 and 299 while 334,560 candidates (17.11 per cent) scored between 200 and 249.
A total of 983,187 candidates (50.29 per cent) scored between 160 and 199, which is widely regarded as the minimum threshold for admissions in many institutions.
In the same vein, 488,197 candidates (24.97 per cent) scored between 140 and 159, 57,419 candidates (2.94 per cent) scored between 120 and 139, 3,820 candidates (0.20 per cent) scored between 100 and 119, and 2,031 candidates (0.10 per cent) scored below 100.
Over 75 per cent of all candidates (1.5 million) scored below 200, average score seeing as the examination is graded over 400.
The high failure rate led to worries with JAMB ordering an immediate review of the results. This will be carried on Thursday, May 15.
The review meeting would bring together vice-chancellors, provosts, rectors, school principals, examiners, and technical experts to scrutinise the examination process and address the widespread dissatisfaction expressed by candidates and stakeholders.
It was also reported that thousands of candidates are preparing to file a class-action lawsuit against the Board over the alleged irregularities that led to mass failure.
In his reaction, the Minister of Education, Mr Tunji Alausa, attributed the mass failure to the efficacy of JAMB’s anti-malpractice technology.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has ordered an immediate review of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) following public outcry over technical glitches and threats of lawsuits.
The board, in a statement issued by its Public Communication Advisor, Mr Fabian Benjamin, acknowledged what it described as an “unusual volume of complaints” since the release of the UTME results last Friday.
Last week, JAMB announced that over 1.5 million out of the 1.9 million candidates that sat for the 2025 exercise scored below 200 out of the total 400 marks.
It said the development had prompted it to fast-track its annual post-examination review process, which typically takes place months after the exercise.
“We are particularly concerned about the unusual complaints originating from a few states within the federation. We are currently scrutinising these complaints in detail to identify and rectify any potential technical issues,” the statement read.
The spokesperson explained that the annual review covers three stages of the UTME cycle—registration, examination, and result release, adding that if any faults are found in the system, JAMB would not hesitate to implement “appropriate remedial measures.”
“To assist in this process, we have engaged a number of experts, including members from the Computer Professionals Association of Nigeria, Chief External Examiners, who are heads of tertiary institutions, the Educational Assessment and Research Network in Africa, measurement experts, and Vice Chancellors from various institutions,” he said.
The exam board noted that “If it is determined that there were indeed glitches, we will implement appropriate remedial measures promptly, as we do in the case of the examinations themselves.”
This development comes amid reports that thousands of candidates are preparing to file a class-action lawsuit against the Board over the alleged irregularities that led to mass failure.
The chief executive of Educare, Mr Alex Onyia, has commenced legal proceeding with almost 9,000 affected students by the issue on board, saying the demand is for JAMB to show students their mark sheets to view their results and enforce more transparency.
Many claim they encountered technical malfunctions and inconsistent question displays during the examination and this has sparked conversation on social media
In reaction, the Minister of Education, Mr Tunji Alausa, attributed the mass failure to the efficacy of JAMB’s anti-malpractice technology.
He defended the results, stating that the board’s computer-based testing system “had made cheating nearly impossible” and should be extended to other national examinations such as WAEC and NECO.
JAMB Registrar, Mr Ishaq Oloyede, also dismissed claims that the 2025 results were unprecedented, pointing out that similar performance trends have been recorded in previous years.
Despite the registrar’s defence, pressure continues to mount on the Board, with widespread calls for transparency and fairness in the marking and result collation processes.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Professor Chris Piwuna has been elected as the next president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), replacing Professor Emmanuel Osodeke.
The new ASUU chief was elected at the 23rd National Delegates Congress of the group in Benin City, Edo State on Sunday.
He is a consultant psychiatrist at the University of Jos Teaching Hospital, Plateau State, and won the exercise contested alongside Professor Adamu Babayo of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi.
The ASUU president is also the Dean of Student Affairs at the University of Jos.
His predecessor is a Professor of Soil Science from the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State.
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