Access Bank to Give Loans to Private Healthcare Providers

By Adedapo Adesanya The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Dr Muhammad Pate, has said Nigeria could become a hub for vaccine production and distribution in Africa, banking on his experience at GAVI. According to him, this can be achieved with the country’s large population, skilled workforce, and existing pharmaceutical industry. “On local vaccine manufacturing, as you are all aware, until I came back as a Minister, I was going to work with GAVI, an international organisation created in 2000 to improve access to new and underused vaccines for children living in the world’s poorest countries. And GAVI also

By Adedapo Adesanya Scientists Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman won the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries enabling the development of COVID-19 vaccines, the award-giving body said on Monday. The prize, among the most prestigious in the scientific world, is selected by the Nobel Assembly of Sweden’s Karolinska Institute Medical University and also comes with 11 million Swedish crowns (about $1 million). “The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19,” the

By Dipo Olowookere An innovative food manufacturing company, Elkris Bio-Health, has introduced a new breakthrough anti-high blood pressure supplement into the Nigerian market. The natural organic all-in-one drug, Elkris Bio-Health Plus Supplement, according to the firm, has a noticeable reduction in BP reading within 15 to 25 minutes of ingestion. The bioceutical capsule was formulated to control high blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels, as well as neutralise pressure within blood vessels, and clean up excess glucose, harmful chemicals, and excess salt. “The EBP Bioceutical Capsule is designed as a guaranteed neutraceutical that brings blood pressure, cholesterol and blood

By Dipo Olowookere A unified platform for healthcare claims and payment integrity, CoverSelf, has obtained an $8.2 million seed round to expand its operations in the United States and drive healthcare claims and payment accuracy. It was gathered that existing investors in the firm, BEENEXT and 3one4 Capital, led the funding round, with Z21 ventures and healthtech leaders coming in to invest in the organisation. CoverSelf intends to use the fresh capital to build generative AI capabilities and increase headcount in sales and marketing as the business scales, especially at a time when the exponential growth of costs in healthcare

By Nneka Okumazie Overthinking is a major threat in any relationship: doubts, thoughts of the intentions of others, presumptions, weighing efforts and sacrifices, results, attention, benevolence, patience, etc. are common intuitive propensities. The mind is a major interpreter. It can say what it is for what it’s not, or say what should be for something else. The mind is influenced by so much, and the scriptures often talks about: guarding the heart with all diligence, renewing the mind, sound mind, and that double-mindedness is same as being unstable. There is so much coming at the mind that if a sound

By Dipo Olowookere An international team of researchers representing the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and Wageningen University, has raised the alarm over the enormous economic impact of parasitic weeds on rice production in Africa, threatening the food security and livelihoods of millions of resource-poor rice farmers and consumers in the region. Smallholder farmers in the continent are losing every year half a million tons of rice worth about US $200 million because of parasitic weeds. This is roughly equivalent to the annual rice consumption of Liberia, a low-income country, which is highly dependent on

By Adedapo Adesanya The Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) has shared N780.9 billion to the three tiers of government for March 2020. This is coming at a time the country is battling with revenue generation streams, especially from crude oil sales as prices have continued to trade lower due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A statement from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation announced the disbursement at the end of the virtual FAAC meeting with the representatives of the federal, states and local governments, along with Federal Capital Territory counterparts on Wednesday. The monthly FAAC meeting for April 2020,

By Dipo Olowookere Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, has disclosed that the sum of N350 billion would soon be released to fund capital projects across the country already captured in the 2017 budget. She made this known on Monday while giving a breakdown of the 2017 Appropriation Act in Abuja to the general public. The Minister said the release was to fast-track completion of the projects, which she said would give the country’s economy the needed boost. Mrs Adeosun said these projects are those that will address the infrastructural needs in the country and as well meet the needs

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A receiver-manager appointed by Ecobank Nigeria Limited, Taiwo Ogbara, has been empowered by a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos to have unrestricted access to one of the debtors of the financial institution, Shoreline Power Company Limited, into its premises. The power firm was said to owe the lender about N4.6 billion and that when the bank appointed a receiver to take over the company, it resisted, which prompted a court action and Justice Chuka Obiozor restrained the firm’s management, including Orikolade Karim, Tunde Karim, Yinka Karim, Marc Hasenclever and Graeme Stout, from interfering with or obstructing

A new report has revealed that in the first half of 2021, African exchanges did not record any cross-border Initial Public Offerings (IPOs). However, the continued global demand for special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) IPOs reached African shores in the period under review, with a cross-border listing from a South African SPAC issuer, African Gold Acquisition Corporation, into the New York Stock Exchange. In the new Baker McKenzie analysis, H1 IPO Snapshot: Unfolding Trends for 2021, it was noted that globally, the continued demand for SPAC deals, as well as current high liquidity and investor enthusiasm, caused capital raising to

The Renmoney squash tournament at Ikoyi Club, which began on April 13, 2019, was concluded on Friday, April 17, with Mr Wasiu Sanni clinching the men’s trophy and Mrs Funlola Abe going home with the female’s trophy. The tournament was well attended by members of the Ikoyi Club squash section, tournament participants and members of the Renmoney team. At the finals, Mr Wasiu Sanni beat his opponent, Mr Akinsope Roberts, while Mrs Funlola Abe defeated Ms Ifunaya Dibis Eze. In his closing remarks, Chairman of the Ikoyi Club squash section, Mr Olumide Sojinrin, congratulated the winners of the tournament and

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira weakened against the United States Dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window of the foreign exchange market on Wednesday, September 21, by 25 Kobo or 0.06 per cent to trade at N436.50/$1 compared with the previous day’s N436.25/$1. Business Post reports that sustained demand pressure watered down the value of the Nigerian currency during the session, though the value of transactions decreased by 5.3 per cent or $7.54 million to $133.97 million from $141.51 million. However, in the black market, the local currency appreciated against the greenback by N1 yesterday to sell at N712/$1