The Annual Returns And Everything In-Between

By Professor Maurice Okoli Johannesburg was the scene for the 15th BRICS — Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa — summit held in late August, during which leaders raised the African Union’s permanent seat in the G20. In early September, New Delhi is the scene for the G20 summit to discuss the changing geopolitical situation and global development and most likely to make historic approval of AU’s permanent seat in G20. South Africa and India are both members of BRICS and are both members of G20. President Cyril Ramaphosa witnessed two new African States (Egypt and Ethiopia) entry into

By Philani Mzila The past 12 months have seen a significant decline in venture capital (VC) funding in Africa. The total amount raised declined by almost 40% between July 2022 and June 2023 compared to the same period between 2021 and 2022. This sharp decline is particularly evident in the “Big Four” markets of Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, and Kenya, with funding contracting by as much as 77% in some. Due to these challenging market conditions, numerous startups are nearing the end of their financial runway and are struggling to secure further investment. Founders in this situation usually face three

By Tony Ogunlowo Just as ECOWAS is about to send a military task force to Niger in a bid to uproot coup leader General Abdourahmane Tchiani and his cronies and return the country back to its elected ruler, another coup d’état erupts in Gabon. This brings to eight the number of coups in Africa in the past three years. This throws a spanner in the works and will force the ECOWAS military command to re-think its strategy: you can’t fight two countries at once. African leaders haven’t changed over the years: they are still inefficient, corrupt, and couldn’t less about

By Nneka Okumazie How many startups in Africa can say that their existence is the reason a major problem was solved in Africa, for the majority of Africans? Some may easily dismiss this as not being a part of their mandate, but maybe looking at what they do through that lens could make their services more useful to their people. The startup scene in Africa is full of activities, but there is no evidence that those activities are connected to solving major problems on the continent, as most of the problems that Africa faces are still there, or worse, with

By Dipo Olowookere Sanity was restored to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Friday after some blue-chip stocks led by Nigerian Breweries rescued the market from further fall. Business Post reports that for the first time in eight consecutive sessions and the second time in the month of September 2018, the market closed in the green territory. At the close of transactions on Friday, the equities market appreciated by 0.95 percent, shrinking the Year-to-Date (YtD) returns to -15.47 percent. This was after the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 305.36 points to close at 32,327.59 points and the market capitalisation advanced

By Adedapo Adesanya Airopay has delved into the digital payments business in Nigeria to ensure that cashless payments are efficient since customers get frustrated and stranded at various pay points. As a payment infrastructure solution, Airopay allows its users, both individuals and businesses in Africa and around the world, to transact locally and internationally from the comfort of their mobile devices. It was designed as a one-stop app to enable payments for users when at home or abroad as it provides users the ability to directly pay bills in Nigeria, make transfers and also receive cash regardless of their geographical

By Adedapo Adesanya Crude oil prices rose more than 2 per cent on Thursday as vaccine rollouts bolstered the global economic outlook, which was supported by a decline of the US Dollar. This pushed the value of the Brent crude higher by 2.78 per cent or $1.89 to $69.79 per barrel and lifted the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) by 2.65 per cent or $1.71 to $65.15 per barrel. The global economic outlook has brightened as COVID-19 vaccine rollouts speed up in some countries, pushing improved expectation for the global gross domestic product predicted to return to pre-pandemic levels by the

By Investors Hub European stocks were broadly higher on Wednesday as investors digested a slew of earnings reports as well as encouraging business confidence data from Germany. U.K. shares edged lower as a pullback in metals prices weighed on miners and better-than-expected GDP data increased the likelihood that the Bank of England will raise interest rates on Nov. 2. Market participants looked ahead to Thursday’s ECB meeting to see whether ECB President Mario Draghi will signal an eventual end of bond purchases.

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has denied a media report that it inflated the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline project to the tune of $1.527 billion. The Group General Manager in charge of the Group Public Affairs Division of the NNPC, Mr Kennie Obateru, said in a statement that the allegation was not only baseless but untrue. The state-owned oil agency advised members of the public to ignore the report, further describing it as “malicious and a direct attack on the character of the person” of its Group Managing Director, Mr Mele Kyari and the Bureau of

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Lagos State Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation has commenced the training of facilitators of N-Power Programme Verification Exercise for the beneficiaries in the state. In her welcome address, Commissioner for the Ministry, Mrs Lola Akande, enjoined the facilitators to abide by the guidelines stipulated in the N-Power Verification officer’s manual and be diligent in the discharge of their duties. She noted that their role and that of the Local Government inspectors were crucial to the success of the programme, adding that the National Orientation Agency would supervise the exercise while the Ministry would provide logistic

By Dipo Olowookere As the deadline to deposit old Naira notes draws closer, Ecobank Nigeria has advised its customers to avoid the last-minute rush and do the needful quickly. Last October, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said it was redesigning the N200, N500, and N1,000 notes to counter hoarding of the banknotes and counterfeiting. On November 23, 2022, it unveiled the new notes, and on December 15, 2022, they hit circulation and would be spent alongside the old notes until January 31, 2023, when they (old notes) cease to be legal tender in Nigeria. Though some Nigerians have lamented

By Dipo Olowookere Many customers of Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) could not hide their excitement after the energy distribution firm installed free prepaid meters in their premises. On Wednesday, IBEDC commenced the mass metering programme of the federal government aimed to bridge the wide metering gap in the country. Last year, the federal government, through the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) approved an upward review of electricity tariff in the country. This development caused the labour unions in the country to threaten a national strike but they were pacified to shelve the action especially it was coming shortly after