Buhari to Commission Terminal at Lagos Airport

By Aduragbemi Omiyale An artificial intelligence-powered feature, Dream Screen for Shorts, designed to redefine how creators use YouTube, has been unveiled by the video streaming platform. The feature was introduced by the tech giant on Thursday alongside others at the Made On YouTube event. It was created to allow YouTube creators to reach more viewers. According to the firm, Dream Screen allows creators to add AI-generated video or image backgrounds to their Shorts simply by typing an idea into a prompt. With Dream Screen, creators will be able to generate new, fantastic settings for their Shorts that are only limited

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The proposed nationwide indefinite strike threatened by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) scheduled for Tuesday, October 3, 2023, has been suspended. The organised labour unions put industrial action on hold for 30 days to allow the federal government to implement some of the agreements reached at a last-minute meeting on Monday. While addressing newsmen in Abuja after the meeting on Monday night, the President of the NLC, Mr Joe Ajaero, said the government has agreed to suspend the collection of Value Added Tax (VAT) on diesel for six months from this

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The Vice President, Mr Kashim Shettima, has charged the National Assembly to continue to cooperate with the executive arm of government, noting that governance is a collective responsibility and not a personal endeavour. He said this at the retreat for the leadership of the 10th National Assembly last Friday at the Four Points by Sheraton, Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State. Mr Shettima said the administration of President Ahmed Tinubu was committed to safeguarding Nigeria’s democracy and maintaining the fraternal bond between the two arms of government. He described the composition of the federal government as well as

By Adedapo Adesanya Nigeria’s former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, who faces bribery charges filed against her by the United Kingdom (UK) government, was on Monday granted bail in a London court. Reading his judgement, District Judge Michael Snow granted her bail in terms and conditions, including a curfew that ordered her to stay indoors between 11 pm and 6 am. He also ordered her to always wear an electronic tag and imposed a £70,000 surety to be paid before she could leave the court building on Monday. According to Reuters, the former minister, during her Monday appearance

By Dipo Olowookere Following controversies trailing the new biometric visa-on-arrival for foreigners entering into the country, the Nigerian government has suspended the policy. The exercise, which was introduced by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), took effect on Tuesday, June 12, 2018, but its implementation delayed till Monday, 25, 2018. It ensured that foreigners arriving into the country obtain a biometric visa at the point of entry. Few days ago, there were reports of pandemonium at the Lagos airport over the demand of $90 to $110 from foreigners entering Nigeria for the biometric visa-on-arrival. Worried by the controversies surrounding the new

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Global provider of contactless mobile payments and financial services software, Youtap, has launched a QR code solution and smartphone apps for mobile money services in Africa and Asia. Youtap’s solution enables customer-initiated or merchant-initiated QR code payments for smartphones and smart point-of-sale devices. T he solution conforms to the BharatQR industry standard developed by Bharat, Mastercard and Visa. Youtap’s apps can be white-labelled and branded with the logo and colours of the mobile money service. The new solution gives any merchant or small business owner with a smartphone the potential to download Youtap’s Merchant App, self-register, and

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The cash swap programme of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in rural and underserved areas of the country kicked off on Monday, January 23, 2023, amid mixed feelings. On October 26, 2022, the Governor of the CBN, Mr Godwin Emefiele, announced that the bank would redesign the N200, N500, and N1,000 notes. At a special press briefing in Abuja, he further disclosed that the new banknotes would be introduced into the system on December 15, 2022, while by January 31, 2023, all the old notes would have been mopped up from the circulation. As announced, the

By Dipo Olowookere The treasury bills market remained bearish this week with average yield increasing by 81 basis point to 17.92 percent. This was despite the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) auctioning N133.79 billion bills via the primary markets during the week. Business Post reports that the central bank sold 91-day bills worth N32.40 billion at 13.1 percent (against 13.25 percent), 182-day bills worth N35.00 billion at 15.3 percent (against 15.50 percent), and 364-day bills worth N66.39 billion at 15.59 percent (against 15.73 percent). Also at the market, there was maturities for T-bills and Open Market Operations (OMO) totalling N174.33

By Ebitonye Akpodigha A change in the management of the humanitarian situation in the North-East has been approved by President Muhammadu Buhari. The new format now puts Ministers in direct charge of coordination of the programme. Senior Special Assistant to the Vice-President on Media and Publicity, Mr Laolu Akande, explained in a statement that before now, coordination of the humanitarian situation was managed by civil servants on the level of Director. He said that an inter-ministerial task force had been established by the President to coordinate the response and work with humanitarian agencies to support the governments and other structures

By Ashemiriogwa Emmanuel Africa’s vertically integrated financial market infrastructure, FMDQ Group, has urged Nigeria to conceive a way its domestic capital market could fund the international capital market. This is necessary for Nigeria to pluck its infrastructural rewards, the Managing Director of the exchange, Mr Bola Koko, emphasised during his input at the recently held Finance Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN) 30th-anniversary conference and awards themed Financing Infrastructure & SMEs for Inclusive Growth in the Post-COVID-19 Economy. Mr Koko, represented by the Head of Private Market, Mr Yomi Osinubi, said, however, said the nation’s capital market was not ripe enough

By Dipo Olowookere The sum of $23 million has been invested in a pan-African crypto exchange, MARA, in order to boost the crypto economy in Africa. To achieve this goal, the company has partnered with the Central African Republic to become the country’s official crypto partner and an advisor to the President on crypto strategy and planning. Recently, the nation passed a bill to legalise Bitcoin as legal tender, following the footstep of El Salvador, which adopted the digital coin as a legal tender last September. MARA intends to become the portal to the crypto economy for the African population

By Dipo Olowookere The year 2017 has shown a steady flow of transactions and activities in the Naira-settled OTC FX Futures market. This market, which was borne out of the desire to address the need for risk management in the Nigerian FX market has continued to show appreciable potential as an effective hedging product for investors (local and international), businesses and government institutions alike. To date, $10.38 billion worth of OTC FX Futures contracts have traded so far with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) remaining steadfast in its commitment to ensuring the success of the market. As it has