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African Oil Producers Seek Commitment For $5bn Africa Energy Bank

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African Energy Bank Headquarters

By Adedapo Adesanya

The African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation (APPO) has urged member countries to fulfil their financial obligations towards establishing the Africa Energy Bank (AEB), the first of such financial institutions on the continent.

Recall that Nigeria recently secured the hosting rights for the bank, which will be located in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

To ensure the bank’s operationalisation, APPO Secretary General, Mr Farouk Ibrahim, called on African oil-producing member countries to contribute their subscription fees of $83 million, to aid the bank’s expected launch in September 2024.

Mr Ibrahim appealed during the 18th ordinary meeting of the APPO executive board in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, where APPO headquarters is situated, a statement signed by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum, Mr Nicholas Ella, said on Wednesday.

“We are aligned with the resolutions of the APPO Council of Ministers from last week. We will double our efforts to ensure we gather the necessary funds to initiate the Africa Energy Bank,” Mr Ibrahim said.

He further disclosed that the oil-producing member countries had formally written to the Nigerian government to discuss expedited steps to establish the bank.

“On Friday, July 5, we formally wrote to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We will discuss how quickly the bank building will be ready and the host country agreement prepared for signature. We already have one member country that has signed the establishment agreement. We need one more signature to proceed,” Ibrahim added.

Expressing President Bola Tinubu’s gratitude to member states for their unwavering support and confidence in Nigeria’s bid to host the bank, Mr Ella, who led Nigeria’s delegation, reiterated commitment to the continental bloc’s ideals to enhance energy security in Africa.

“The gathering of the 18 member countries of APPO in Brazzaville demonstrates our collective dedication to fostering unity, cooperation, and sustainable development within the African energy sector,” noted Mr Ella.

He pledged Nigeria’s determination to collaborate with other members to address the financial needs of Africa’s energy sector through funding oil and gas projects.

Mr Ella urged member countries to harness the collective strength of the continent’s nations to build a brighter, more prosperous future for Africa.

“Together, we will create an institution that addresses the financial needs of our energy projects and champions sustainable development, environmental stewardship, and economic inclusivity across Africa,” he added.

During a brainstorming session on the continent’s energy future, Algerian executive board member,  Mr Remini Amine, emphasised that local content, manpower, and infrastructure development remain key to unlocking Africa’s energy opportunities.

APPO member state representatives agreed that the energy bank would bridge funding gaps in the sector, with Mr Ibe Kachikwu, a former Nigerian Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, suggesting a 10-year plan for the energy industry to encourage an “open era” for investment. Kachikwu advised APPO to grow the energy bank’s capital base before investing.

Speakers at the week-long event emphasised the need for National Oil Companies (NOCs) to lead in crude oil production and refine oil to meet local consumption needs. The energy bank is an initiative of the APPO and Afreximbank.

Adedapo Adesanya is a journalist, polymath, and connoisseur of everything art. When he is not writing, he has his nose buried in one of the many books or articles he has bookmarked or simply listening to good music with a bottle of beer or wine. He supports the greatest club in the world, Manchester United F.C.

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Kwara Governor Removes Deputy Chief of Staff, Others in Minor Shake-up

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AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The Governor of Kwara State, Mr AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, has removed his Deputy Chief of Staff and the Principal Private Secretary.

In a statement on Monday by his Deputy Chief Press Secretary, Mr Mashood AbdulRafiu Agboola, it was disclosed that the Governor also removed all Special Advisers, Advisers, Senior Special Assistants, and Special Assistants in the “minor cabinet shake-up.

It was explained that the action was to extend opportunities to more party members and inject fresh energy into the administration.

Mr AbdulRazaq directed them to hand over all government properties in their custody to the Office of the Secretary to the State Government.

He thanked the affected appointees for selfless service to the state and his administration, wishing them well in their future endeavours.

“His Excellency expresses his gratitude to all the appointees for their priceless service to the state. He wishes them the best in their future endeavours,” the statement noted.

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Xenophobia: FG Evacuates More Nigerians as South Africa Protests Loom

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nigerians in south africa

By Adedapo Adesanya

The federal government has announced that another batch of Nigerians will be evacuated from South Africa on Tuesday as part of ongoing efforts to safeguard citizens ahead of planned anti-immigrant protests in the country.

Anti-immigrant groups in South Africa have set a June 30 deadline for immigrants to leave the country, planning widespread demonstrations on that date and threatening a national shutdown if the country’s government does not take significant action on immigration.

According to the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Kimiebi Ebienfa, an Air Peace aircraft departed Nigeria on Monday and is expected to return to Lagos on Tuesday morning with another group of Nigerians who opted for voluntary evacuation.

The latest operation comes as anti-immigration groups prepare to stage demonstrations from June 30. The government has continued its evacuation programme for Nigerians who have indicated a willingness to return home.

Providing details of the latest flight, Mr Ebienfa said, “Nigeria will resume the evacuation of our nationals from South Africa today.

“Air Peace aircraft will depart Nigeria today, Monday, June 29, 2026, at 3:00 pm and is expected to arrive in South Africa at approximately 9:00 pm local time.

“The return flight is scheduled to depart South Africa at 12:00 midnight and is expected to arrive at Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, on Tuesday morning.”

He added that 271 Nigerians are expected to arrive on the evacuation flight.

President Tinubu approved the voluntary evacuation programme earlier this month to enable Nigerians willing to leave South Africa to return home safely.

Earlier in June, the federal government disclosed that five Air Peace evacuation flights had been approved after more than 500 Nigerians were screened for repatriation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the flights were intended to ensure that all registered Nigerians who wished to return would be evacuated safely.

Before the latest operation, 328 Nigerians had already been repatriated in two batches. The first flight, which landed on June 11, brought back 262 returnees, while a second batch of 66 arrived in Lagos on June 25.

The evacuation exercise is being coordinated by the Federal Government in partnership with Air Peace and other relevant agencies.

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Why Ad Platform Policy Changes Are a Hidden Risk in Every Outsourced Paid Media Relationship

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white label ppc management

The rules governing digital advertising landscapes are never set in stone. Major platforms like Google, Meta, and TikTok frequently update their privacy frameworks, compliance requirements, and algorithmic bidding logic without giving agencies much time to prepare. When a marketing team decides to delegate its active campaigns to an external production partner, these sudden policy shifts can introduce a major element of vulnerability into the relationship. Integrating a professional white label ppc management structure allows your business to scale production and tap into high-level optimization talent without building a massive internal department. However, if your fulfillment partner is not built to monitor, interpret, and rapidly deploy adjustments in response to changing platform guidelines, your clients risk facing sudden account suspensions or massive spikes in customer acquisition costs.

Decoupling Technical Adaptability from Account Ownership

When an advertising platform changes its rules, the changes need to be made away in the live ad accounts. This is so the ads do not stop working. Sometimes there is a problem when one team thinks another team is taking care of making sure the ads follow the rules. The team that is supposed to make sure everything is working thinks the other team is doing this job. This can cause problems like missing information and ads that do not work. To keep your clients happy, you need a plan that says who is in charge of checking for rule changes, who updates the ad information, and who updates the ad text rules when the advertising platform changes its rules. You need to know who does what so everything runs smoothly. Advertising platforms and ad accounts are important for your clients.

Managing the Financial Fallouts of Compliance Delays

The real-world financial cost of failing to adapt to sudden policy changes can ruin an agency’s reputation and cause high client turnover. If an automated ad platform updates its rules for a specific industry—such as healthcare, real estate, or finance—and your campaign structure fails to adjust within the grace period, entire accounts can be paused overnight. While your backend team works to fix the errors, your client loses valuable inbound leads while their fixed overhead costs remain. Agencies must make sure their fulfillment partners don’t just focus on basic optimization but also maintain a proactive stance toward platform compliance to prevent budget waste and operational downtime.

Maintaining Strategic Alignment Through Platform Shifts

Relying on a partner to manage the daily execution of your paid media means you must remain highly aligned on how macro-level platform changes alter your broader strategy. When networks restrict traditional targeting methods, your backend white label ppc management team must quickly pivot to alternative solutions, such as first-party data loops or contextual targeting systems. If your vendor operates on autopilot without adjusting to these shifts, your campaigns will slowly lose efficiency as the old targeting methods become obsolete. Regular strategy sessions are essential to confirm that your optimization partners are actively adjusting their setups to remain effective beneath the latest network rules.

Building a Resilient Operations Partnership

To do well with ad networks, you need to work together with your partners and be able to change quickly. You also need to be open with each other. Ad agencies can not just set up their paid media. Forget about it. They need to keep an eye on it and make changes when needed. If you work closely with the company that provides your white-label service, you can protect your business from losing money. You should expect this company to tell you about changes to the network rules and to take action. The best partnerships are the ones where people work together all the time and make changes fast. This helps your clients make money consistently from their investments even when the rules of the ad networks change. Modern ad networks are always changing, so you need to be able to change with them to do well. Modern ad networks require a lot of work to navigate successfully.

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