General
UK Opens Africa’s Largest Visa Application Centre in Lagos
By Adedapo Adesanya
The United Kingdom has opened the biggest visa application centre in Africa in Lagos, Nigeria through the UK’s new commercial partner, VFS Global to ease the often burdensome process.
According to a statement by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), residents of Nigeria travelling to the UK can now book appointments to submit their visa applications through VFS Global’s new state-of-the-art Visa Application Centres (VAC) located in Abuja, Ikeja (Lagos) and Victoria Island (Lagos) which have commenced operations since November 19.
The UK is a popular destination for travellers across Africa, with Nigeria being among the highest nationalities by volume for UK visit visas, accounting for 5 per cent of the global total. In the African region, VFS Global will provide Visa Application Centres for the UK in 31 countries.
Commenting at the launch of the new UK Visa Application Centre which is situated in Ikeja, Lagos, the British Deputy High Commissioner, Mr Jonny Baxter, said, “I am delighted to witness the opening of this, the largest visa application centre in Africa. Nigeria remains one of the UK’s most important partners, and we hope that VFS deliver ever-improving services for those applying for visas to the UK.”
The Director of Visa, Status and Information Services at UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI), Mr Marc Owen, said, “The opening of our new VAC in Ikeja marks an exciting milestone for UKVI and VFS Global in the provision of a world-class UK visa service here in Nigeria and elsewhere across Africa.
“In the year to June 2024, we processed more than 225k UK visas for Nigerian nationals across all categories and this new partnership demonstrates our continued commitment to ensuring our visa services are accessible, efficient and meet the needs of all applicants.”
Adding his input, the Head-Sub-Saharan Africa, VFS Global, Mr Alok Singhal added that, “We are excited to embark on this new journey with UK Visas and Immigration here in Nigeria. We have enjoyed a long-standing partnership with UK Visas and Immigration since 2003 and look forward to now bringing travellers from Nigeria our best-in-class services.”
According to the statement, UK visa customers can choose from optional services offered by VFS Global, to provide enhanced comfort and convenience. These include document upload assistance, Prime Time for application submission outside of business hours, SMS notifications, document checking service, and courier return of the passport once a decision has been made.
VFS Global’s Keep My Passport While Applying service allows customers to keep their passports once their application is submitted and biometrics have been enrolled. Customer will only need to re-submit their passport when a decision is reached.
Customers in Abuja can also submit their UK visa applications from the comfort and safety of their home, office, or any other preferred location with its On Demand Mobile Visa service.
In addition, their Premium Lounge service offers a personalised submission experience with dedicated staff members.
The UK government added a caveat that these services are completely optional and have no bearing on the processing timeline and outcomes of visa applications.
As a partner to UK Visas and Immigration since 2003, VFS Global offered visa services in 58 countries before the new contract and has now been awarded the contract to provide UK visa services in 142 countries worldwide.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The latest United Nations data, as estimated by Worldometer, has projected that Nigeria will have a population of 237,527,782 by 2025.
According to the report, the country’s population will grow from 235,072,214 recorded in December 2024.
The statistics showed that between 2023 and 2024, the country’s population increased by 4,796,533.
This is as the US Census Bureau estimates released Monday, the world population increased by more than 71 million people in 2024.
This is a slight slowdown from the 75 million increase witnessed in 2023.
Worldometer’s report said Nigeria’s population is equivalent to 2.85 per cent of the total world population and the country ranks number six in the list of countries (and dependencies) by population.
The data places the most populated cities to be Lagos with 15,388,000 people, Kano at 4,910,000, Ibadan at 3,649,000, Abuja at 2,690,000 and Port Harcourt at 2,120,000, with 53.9 per cent of the population in the urban region at 125,447,884 people in 2024.
The population density in Nigeria is 255 per Km² (662 people per mi²) and the total land area is 910,770 Km² (351,650 sq. miles), the report said.
“The median age in Nigeria is 17.9 years while the life expectancy at birth for both sexes is 54.6 years.
“Females have a life expectancy of 54.9 years at birth while that of males is 54.3 years,” the report said.
The data projected the world population to reach 8.09 billion people on Wednesday, January 1, 2025.
Recall that Nigeria alongside seven other nations will push the world population to 9.7 billion in 2050 before reaching a peak of around 10.4 billion in the 2080s to 2100.
According to the United Nations, more than half of the projected increase in the global population up to 2050 will be concentrated in eight countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and the United Republic of Tanzania.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The African Development Bank (AfDB) is set to release $2.2 billion in funding to develop Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) across Nigeria, a move designed to transform the nation’s agriculture sector and tackle food insecurity.
Mr Abdul Kamara, the Director General of the AfDB, Nigeria Office, made the announcement during Channels Television’s 2024 End-of-Year Review with the theme Focus on the Agriculture Sector, Food Security, Research, and AfDB Investments.
Mr Kamara revealed that the disbursement will begin in 2025, with construction and mobilization starting in selected states.
“Specifically from next year (2025), we will see contracts signed and mobilization and construction on-site will start in some states. Of course, not all the states will start together,” he stated.
According to him, the SAPZ initiative is expected to significantly boost Nigeria’s agricultural productivity, create jobs and strengthen value chains, cementing the country’s position as a leader in agro-industrial development in Africa.
The fund is designed to drive the development of agro-industrial hubs, aggregation centres, and agricultural transformation programs that aim to enhance food security and unlock economic opportunities.
According to Mr Kamara, while the AfDB Board approved the SAPZ program in 2021, startup delays were caused by the need for agreements with the federal government and co-financiers, including the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB).
“When you approve a programme, you have to have it signed with the Federal Government, especially of that magnitude. You also have to have it signed with the co-financiers. The bank had to bring in IFAD and the Islamic Development Bank as co-financiers,” he explained.
The programme will initially target seven regions, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Cross River, Ogun, Oyo, Kaduna, Kano, and Kwara. Kamara highlighted ongoing collaboration with state governors to streamline processes.
“In all the seven states, we are now in conversation and are publishing the bidding documents so that we’ll shorten the process. The project is picking up, and that is not strange for very complex projects,” he said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria’s Broad Money Supply (M2) increased by 51 per cent year-on-year to N108.96 trillion in November 2024, spurred by domestic borrowings by the federal government from the private sector.
According to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Money and Credit Statistics data released on Monday, these latest figures were higher than the N72.03 trillion in the corresponding period of 2023.
Broad Money Supply (M2) represents cash and demand deposits as well as savings deposits, money market deposits, and time deposits.
According to the report, the M2 recorded a six-month increase since April 2024.
The trend, however, reversed in October 2024, declining month-on-month by 1.5 per cent to N107.7 trillion from N109.4 trillion in September 2024, before shooting up again by 1.2 per cent to N108.96 trillion in November.
The report also showed that the money supply increase followed positive component changes.
Quasi-money, including savings deposits, time deposits, and other near-money assets, also rose marginally.
The data showed that Quasi Money grew by 1.96 per cent year-on-year to N72.7 from N71.3 trillion in November 2023.
Similarly, Demand Deposits increased by 34.4 per cent year-on-year to N31.6 trillion in November 2024 from N23.2 trillion in November 2023.
Currency outside banks increased by 50.9 per cent year-on-year to N4.65 trillion in November 2024 from N3.08 trillion in November 2023.
Narrow money (M1), also grew by 38 per cent year-on-year to N36.3 trillion in November 2024 from N26.3 trillion in November 2023.
According to the CBN, credit to the government increased by 54 per cent year-on-year to N39.6 trillion in November 2024 from N25.7 trillion in November 2023.
On the other hand, credit to the private sector rose year-on-year by 27 per cent to N75.96 trillion in November 2024 from N59.7 trillion in November 2023.
This resulted in a 91 per cent year-on-year rise in net domestic credit of N115.6 trillion in November 2024 from N60.5 trillion in the corresponding period of 2023.
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