Eight Schools from Nigeria, Others for Sahara STEAMers Programme

By Bliss Okperan The University of Lagos (UNILAG) has reduced the school fees by 5 per cent to 8 per cent, following discussions between the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and the management of the institution led by the Vice Chancellor, Professor Folasade Ogunsola. The two parties held talks on Thursday after students of the school protested against the hike in the fees. The president of NANS, Mr Usman Umar Barambu, informed the UNILAG students that their demands, which include the restoration of the Students’ Union Government (SUG), the reversal of obligatory fees, and the reversal of hostel fees,

By Aduragbemi Omiyale Airtel Africa has reaffirmed its commitment to continue driving the digitalization of the continent to unlock new opportunities and promote inclusive, sustainable growth. This reassurance was given by the chief executive of Airtel Africa, Mr Segun Ogunsanya, during a meeting with the President of Malawi, Mr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera. He said the organisation intends to boost investments geared towards supporting the country’s target of achieving at least 20 per cent internet access by 2030 in the quest of the Malawian government to become a self-reliant, industrialised middle-income economy. “Our purpose is to transform lives across the continent.

By Bon Peters A beneficiary of the Andoni Local Government Maritime scholarship scheme, Mr Ukotije Hezekiah, has emerged as the 2023 best-graduating student of Charkin Maritime Academy. At the passing out parade/convocation ceremony weekend in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State Capital, Mr Erastus Awortu, Chairman of the area council and initiator of the program, lauded cadets for putting in commensurate efforts in their respective courses of study. Mr Awortu said that upon commencement of his administration in 2021, he unveiled the Maritime scholarship scheme. According to him, 15 students (4 females and 11 males), who successfully completed the scholarship requirements,

By Aduragbemi Omiyale More than 17,000 students from across the nation have registered for the prestigious Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) competition, Interswitch SPAK. The educational contest is organised by Africa’s leading integrated digital payments and e-commerce enabler, Interswitch, to promote STEM subjects in secondary schools. The programme, in its 5th year, is currently operational in Nigeria and Kenya and was conceptualised by the organisers in 2017 to ignite, promote, and reward STEM interest in young Africans. It has since drawn over 9,000 schools and over 60,000 students from senior secondary schools across Nigeria, six of which appear in

By Dipo Olowookere One of the major shareholders in Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc, Mrs Adedotun Ogunbiyi, has offloaded some of her stakes in the company. According to the audited financial statements of Mutual Benefits Assurance for the 2019 accounting year analysed by Business Post, Mrs Ogunbiyi, wife of Chairman of the firm, Mr Akin Ogunbiyi, controls 5.8 per cent stake in the company, amounting to 650,398,460 units. In a notice to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), it was disclosed that a few days ago, she sold about 14.5 million units of the company’s stocks in her portfolio. In the statement,

By Dipo Olowookere Leading financial institution, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) Limited, a subsidiary of the newly established Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) Plc, now has its first female Managing Director and she is Mrs Miriam Olusanya. A statement from the lender on Wednesday disclosed that her appointment has been approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as well as others. GTBank Limited will be governed by a board of directors comprising Mr Ibrahim Hassan as Chairman, Mr Jide Okuntola as Deputy Managing Director, Mr Haruna Musa as Executive Director, Mr Olabode Agusto as Independent Non-Executive Director, Ms Imoni Akpofure

By Adedapo Adesanya Committed to solving currency devaluation and inflation, Xend Finance, a fast-growing startup that uses decentralized finance (DeFi), has launched the first global cryptocurrency banking app out of Africa. The blockchain-based application allows users to save in stable currencies in order to hedge against inflation and devaluation. The launch of the Xend Finance app officially shows how blockchain technology can be applied in the changing banking environment with continuous migration from traditional banking to digital banking. According to the company, it is bringing a whole new terrain with crypto banking. “The absolutely interesting part about this is that

By Adedapo Adesanya  The oil market traded higher on Thursday by more than one per cent, extending the previous day’s rally as optimism continued over record crude exports in the United States and signs that recession fears are slowing. Brent crude appreciated by $1.27 or 1.3 per cent to close at $96.96 a barrel, as the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude grew by $1.17 or 1.3 per cent to $89.08 a barrel. Data showed that US crude exports, a hopeful sign for demand, surged to a weekly record of 5.1 million barrels per day, cutting net crude imports to just

By Jerome-Mario Chijioke Utomi There exists no ambiguity to the fact that Nigeria is a federal state with three tiers of government, which consists of the federal government at the centre, 36 federating states and 774 Local Government Areas. What is, however, the news is that, like its global counterparts, the federal system currently practised in Nigeria is characterized by a high level of debates, controversies arising from structural imperfections and riddled with calls on the federal government to identify in the nation the imperfections and have them amended according to the changing time of its political sovereignty. In December

By Dipo Olowookere The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the month of May 2017 has been released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). In the figure released by the apex bank on Thursday, manufacturing activities in the period under review increased for the second consecutive month to 52.5 index points from 51.1 index points, indicating a change of 1.4 index points. The Manufacturing and Non-Manufacturing PMI Report on businesses is based on data compiled from purchasing and supply executives. Survey responses indicate whether there is change or no change in the level of business activities in the current

By Adedapo Adesanya The African Development Bank (AfDB) has signed a €362,000 grant agreement with Hadejia Jama’are Komadugu Yobe Basin-Trust Fund to prepare additional studies under the second phase of developing a strategic plan for managing water resources in the Komadugu-Yobe Basin in northern Nigeria. Specifically, the grant will support the preparation of a Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) for the Challawa Gorge Dam Watershed Management Project; a stakeholder engagement plan; a grievance redress mechanism, and stakeholder consultations involving riparian communities and the Lake Chad Basin Commission comprising Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria, and Niger Republic. The project will be implemented over eight

By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa and shares borders with South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Mozambique. It is very rich in mineral resources and is the largest trading partner of South Africa on the continent of Africa. Russia maintains very friendly relations with Zimbabwe, thanks to ties which evolved during the struggle for independence. Since then, Russia has had a very strong mutual sympathy with and friendly feelings toward the southern African people, government and the country. Brigadier General Nicholas Mike Sango, Zimbabwean ambassador to the Russian Federation, has held his position since