General
Ventures Platform Advocates Creation of Inclusive Climate Fund
By Adedapo Adesanya
Early-stage venture capital fund, Ventures Platform, which invests in innovative startups across Africa, has called for the establishment of an inclusive climate innovation fund to support underrepresented groups in climate entrepreneurship.
This is part of recommendations made in its recently published climate tech whitepaper entitled Innovating for a Sustainable Future: Leveraging Venture Capital and Startup Innovation to Combat Climate Change in Africa.
The white paper outlines key goals, strategies, challenges, and ecosystem support needed to enhance the impact of African climate tech startups, providing a comprehensive guide for non-climate VCs and entrepreneurs in the technology sector. It also proposes a framework for a coordinated climate response in the African tech sector.
Formally launched at the recently held Africa Prosperity Summit in Lagos, the paper explores how the agility and innovation of startups, combined with the strategic deployment of venture capital, can catalyse the development and scaling of climate-smart solutions tailored to the specific needs and challenges of African communities and ecosystems.
Furthermore, the paper offers insights to climate tech startups on how to secure and maintain venture capital support, while providing an in-depth analysis of how venture capital and startup ecosystems can act as powerful engines of progress in the face of environmental adversity.
Other recommendations made include the need to develop Africa-specific metrics for measuring the success and impact of climate-focused startups, considering both environmental and socio-economic factors.
Since launching in 2016, Ventures Platform has funded over 90 startups, with at least one in every region of the continent and across various sectors including climate tech. Many of its startups are category leaders in fintech, healthtech, and insurtech, including Moniepoint, Mdaas Global and Tanel Health.
While not primarily a climate fund, Ventures Platform understands the importance of sustainable investments for long-term prosperity and has factored this into its investment guidelines by prioritising businesses that implement sustainable practices, reduce environmental impact and drive long-term ecological benefits.
Drawing from its learnings as a key player in Africa’s tech ecosystem and from broader research, Ventures Platform has published this climatetech white paper to better equip non-climate Venture Capitalists (VCs) and startups with insights and tools to support Africa’s climate resilience through strategic investments and operational choices.
The fund also called for the facilitation of cross-border collaborations between different types of VCs through networking events, joint investment programmes, and knowledge-sharing platforms.
According to the United Nations, Africa contributes under 4 per cent of the global greenhouse gas emissions yet suffers disproportionately from climate change.
Ventures Platform, through the white paper, proposed a simplified framework focusing on adaptation, mitigation and enablers, to guide the African VC and startup ecosystem in addressing climate challenges.
It examined that adaptation strategies include developing climate-resilient infrastructure and agricultural practices. Mitigation efforts focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions through renewable energy adoption and sustainable land use while ‘enablers’ encompass financing mechanisms, policy frameworks, educational programs, and technological innovations.
It also recommended the conduction of sector-specific climate opportunity assessments to identify and prioritise high-potential sectors for climate innovation in Africa.
Presenting the white paper at the Africa Prosperity Summit, Mr Dotun Olowoporoku, Managing Partner, Ventures Platform, shared, “African VCs often prioritise impact and livelihoods along with traditional metrics, but there is an urgent need to focus on climate-resilient business models”
Mr Olowoporoku also noted that climate change poses formidable threats with potential for severe impacts across multiple sectors, and noted that,”building climate-resilient business models can unlock business, societal and environmental sustainability.”
“As Venture Capitalists, we can drive change in Africa’s climate action by providing funds, encouraging innovation, and scaling climate-smart solutions. Startups like MAX, Rana Energy, and ThriveAgric, which were recognised in the 2024 TIME 100 Climate list, show how tech-driven solutions can address local issues and help global climate efforts.
“At Ventures Platform, we are deeply committed to investing in companies that are not only commercially successful but also actively contribute to solving some of society’s collective challenges”.
Commenting further on the landmark paper, Mr Dolapo Morgan, Senior Investment Associate at Ventures Platform, shared, “Africa is at the receiving end of the world’s climate disaster and it is important for us to turn this challenge into opportunities. It is time for entrepreneurs to focus on building climate-resilient business models for long-term sustainability while creating innovative climate solutions to tackle climate challenges.
“We are already beginning to see some startups and investors move in this direction and that is a good start. This white paper is a call for a coordinated African response towards scaling the opportunities that climate change presents to our technology sector, emphasizing the pivotal role non-climate funds can play in complementing and amplifying the efforts of climate-focused investments,”
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A new branch of the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) Nigeria Chapter has been established in Oyo State, with Mr Adejumo Olusola Babatunde chosen as Coordinator.
The organisation set up an arm in the South-West state in a bid to expand its footprint in the country. Mr Babatunde will be assisted by other executive committee members, including Mr Ajiboye Olusola Akeem as Secretary, and Mrs Adeniran Olaide as Treasurer.
At the inauguration of the branch at the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) Secretariat in the Akobo area of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, the president of IFMA Nigeria, Mr Sheriff Daramola, expressed delight at the successful inauguration of the branch and commended members for their commitment to the growth of facility management in Nigeria.
He highlighted IFMA’s global heritage, noting that the association is supporting over 25,000 members in more than 140 countries worldwide. Mr Daramola emphasised IFMA’s strong global network, the world’s largest and most widely recognised association for facility management professionals, headquartered in the United States and its growing influence in Africa, the Middle East and Europe.
“IFMA members have taken positions of authority across federal, state, and private institutions; IFMA Nigeria is positioned to ensure our professionals are the first choice for global investors entering the Nigerian market,” he stated.
The Legal Adviser of IFMA, Nigeria, Mr Sola Fatoki, who shared this sentiment, said, “Since 1997, when IFMA Nigeria was established, the association has equipped facility management professionals with integrated knowledge spanning human behaviour, infrastructure, and the built environment.”
He encouraged engineers, architects, surveyors, ITC, Technology innovators, data analysts and allied professionals to see IFMA as their professional home and outlined the functions and responsibilities of branch executive committees.
In his remarks, Mr Babatunde expressed gratitude to the national council for the opportunity to serve and pledged to ensure the success of the branch, focusing on unity and the professional advancement of stakeholders in the region.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has denied reports that some disputed crude oil and gas wells have been recommended for ceding to specific oil-producing states.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the chairman of the commission, Mr Mohammed Shehu, said the attention of RMAFC had been drawn to a “purported report allegedly issued by the Inter-Agency Committee on the Verification of Coordinates of Disputed Crude Oil and Gas Wells between States,” which was circulating in sections of the national media (excluding Business Post).
The agency described the report as “misleading, premature, and does not represent the position or conclusions of the Commission.”
“At this stage, there is no finalised recommendation or decision regarding the ceding or reallocation of any oil wells, as due institutional processes are still ongoing,” the statement read.
The organisation explained that it operates a clearly defined and transparent procedure in handling assignments of national significance, stressing that the process on the disputed oil wells had not been concluded.
It disclosed that it only received a draft report from the Federal Government’s Inter-Agency Committee on Nigeria’s Oil-Producing States on Friday, February 13, 2026, which reportedly projected Cross River State as an oil-producing state.
The report, covering the nationwide 2017–2025 verification of crude oil and gas coordinates, was presented to the Chairman of RMAFC by 10 of the 14 members of the committee.
The exercise, which ran from August 2025 to February 2026, involved extensive field verification, technical reconciliation of state submissions, and a final plenary plotting of coordinates at RMAFC headquarters between January 24 and 31, 2026.
“Consistent with established protocol, the draft document has been transmitted to relevant technical and statutory stakeholders, namely the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, the National Boundary Commission, and the Office of the Surveyor General of the Federation, for detailed review, observations, and technical input,” the commission stated.
According to the statement, after the observations and recommendations of the agencies are received, the matter will be subjected to further scrutiny by the commission’s internal tripartite committees, comprising the Committee on Crude Oil, Gas and Investment and the Legal Matters Committee.
“These committees will undertake comprehensive technical and legal reviews before presenting their findings to the Plenary Session of RMAFC for deliberation and final recommendations,” it added.
The commission further explained that upon completion of the institutional processes, its final report would be formally transmitted to the President and the Attorney-General of the Federation for necessary consideration and further action in line with applicable laws and constitutional provisions.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Social media platform, X, formerly known as Twitter, suffered an outage globally on Monday as millions of users could not use the service.
The widespread outages have been reported by thousands of users across several countries, including Nigeria, the United States, the United Kingdom, Turkey, and India, among others.
According to data from Downdetector, a website that tracks service disruptions based on user reports, complaints about access to X started to pick up around 1:00 p.m. local time in Nigeria.
The cause of the outage was not immediately clear, and X has not put out any comment, but users told Business Post that the platform is not loading or cannot be reached, and the pattern of complaints suggests the issue is not limited to a single region.
Its developer platform status page stated “all systems are operational” all morning despite the reports.
The outage is the latest to hit internet services. X suffered a similar outage in March 2025, while a Cloudflare service outage caused access problems and downtime for various websites, including X, last November.
Microsoft’s Azure had also faced an issue last year, while disruption at Amazon AWS caused global turmoil among thousands of websites and some of the most popular apps, such as Snapchat and Reddit in October
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