Stanford to Train African, Indian Entrepreneurs

By Adedapo Adesanya The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2023 to three scientists — Moungi G. Bawendi, Louis E. Brus, and Alexei I. Ekimov for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots. According to the announcement on Wednesday, the Nobel Laureates in Chemistry 2023 have succeeded in producing particles so small that their properties are determined by quantum phenomena. The particles, which are called quantum dots, are now of great importance in nanotechnology. “Quantum dots have many fascinating and unusual properties. Importantly, they have different colours depending on their size,” says

By Adedapo Adesanya A 400-year-old British educational institution, Charterhouse, has commissioned its first African school, currently in progress on a sprawling 70-hectare site located at Ogombo in Lekki, Lagos. The introduction of Charterhouse Lagos marks the convergence of British independent school heritage with cutting-edge educational practices, ushering in a new era of excellence in West African education. Charterhouse Lagos will represent a remarkable educational undertaking in the commercial capital of the country, with the planned $150 million campus expected to be fully delivered in 2028. The school’s development will unfold gradually, with the first intake of primary school students in

By Adedapo Adesanya The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Tajudeen Abbas, has congratulated teachers in Nigeria and all over the world on the occasion of this year’s World Teachers’ Day, noting their immeasurable contributions to society and promising better welfare. According to a statement released by his media aide, Mr Musa Abdullahi Krishi, the Speaker described teachers as destiny moulders and life changers. He also hailed teachers for their critical roles in the mental and behavioural development of their pupils and students. Mr Abbas noted that teachers or lecturers not only educate but also serve as guardians and

By Aduragbemi Omiyale A student of Premiere Academy, Lugbe, Abuja, Miss Sonia Nwakanma, has retained her position as the Best Female Chess Player in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for the third year running. She clinched the latest accolade she first picked in 2021 at the prestigious Abuja Inter-School Chess Competition, rated by the World Chess Federation (FIDE) and the Chess Players Association of Nigeria (CPAN). Miss Nwakanma, who is a member of the 2023 graduating set of the school, attributed her achievement to her school’s robust in-house sports and personal development facilities that offer students opportunities to compete with

By Quantitative Financial Analytics Ltd Fixed income investors must be feeling unease as yields continue to plunge and may be thinking of where else to run to for improved investment income. One area to look at is the equity market and one variable that could help in that search is dividend yield. However, in looking for good investment outlets in the equity market, investors often times look not only dividend yields but also payout ratio as well as dividend growth. Of the three variables (dividend yield, payout ratio and dividend growth), the most important is dividend growth. Dividend growth does

By Adedapo Adesanya The United States government and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have announced a project to strengthen the forensic and chemical analysis capacity of the drug enforcement agency as well as its intelligence gathering and prosecution capabilities. This was disclosed by NDLEA’s spokesman, Mr Femi Babafemi, who noted that the support was from the US Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. It came on the heels of an award of N500 million grant received by the agency from the Abdul Samad Rabiu Initiative to fund selected projects. He explained that the

By Adedapo Adesanya Following its acquisition of top Nigerian mattress brand, Mouka Foam, Moroccan mattress maker, Dolidol, has set its sight on becoming a Pan-African beddings and mattress company by dominating the market. According to a recent report, the transaction was backed by UK-based private equity firm Development Partners International and was priced at $60 million. The deal is expected to present an immense growth opportunity, as Dolidol and Mouka Foam will bring together their highly complementary capabilities, banking on the large market share in Nigeria. Dolidol will also bank on this and more by developing new products for Nigeria’s

By Dipo Olowookere The year-to-date loss of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday moderated to 7.76 percent on the back of the gains posted by Mobil Oil Nigeria, BUA Cement and others. The two stocks and 27 others sustained the rally by 1.25 percent. While Mobil appreciated by N17.60 to settle at N194.50 per share, BUA Cement gained N3.20 to sell at N35.60 per unit. In addition, Unilever Nigeria grew by N1.40 to trade at N16.45 per share, Guinness Nigeria appreciated by 55 kobo to trade at N17.55 per unit, while Zenith Bank increased by 50 kobo to settle

By Adedapo Adesanya An approval has given to FBNQuest Merchant Bank by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) for the collection of customs duties, otherwise known as import duties, in the country. With this, FBNQuest becomes the first designated merchant bank to achieve this feat. The investment bank and asset management company owned by FBN Holdings said that this new development will help confirm its reputation for excellent service delivery and efficient processing of international transactions through its trade services platform. According to a statement released by the firm, “The joint agreement with the Nigeria Customs, and the full integration process

By Adedapo Adesanya Crude prices headed downward by more than 2 per cent on Wednesday as the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported an inventory build of 2.3 million barrels in the United States for the week to October 1. The price of the Brent crude fell to $80.75 per barrel after dropping $1.81 or 2.19 per cent, while the United States West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was sold at $76.98 per barrel after it dipped by $1.95 or 2.47 per cent. At 420.9 million barrels, US crude oil inventories are within the limits of the five-year average for this time

By Dipo Olowookere Treasury bills yields marginally rose on Friday as investor appetite for the government’s debt instrument weaned. It was observed at the market yesterday that investors were demanding for higher yields from willing sellers. According to analysts at Zedcrest Research, this left the T-bills market relatively stable with slight demand seen on some of the short and mid-tenured bills due to the relatively buoyant level of liquidity in the system. “In the coming week, we do not expect this trend to change, as demand for T-bills remains relatively week, despite the persistently robust system liquidity levels,” Zedcrest Research

By Modupe Gbadeyanka In a bid to make funds available to farmers in the country and ensure food security, a mobile payment services firm, Cellulant, has taken steps to make about $100 million available to farmers. This initiative is under its Agrikore platform, also known as the e-wallet platform developed by Messer Cellulant for Nigeria in 2012. The firm, in a report titled ‘Nigeria Report, Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GES) Dry Season, 2016,’ which was obtained by Business Post, stated that it has “arranged a consortium of financial sector actors who have agreed to deploy a loan book portfolio of