COVID-19: Dangote’s N200m Donation Melts Buhari’s Heart

By Adedapo Adesanya The co-founder and CEO of Drugstoc, Mr Chibuzo Opara, has been crowned winner of the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (CEMEA) edition of the Visa Everywhere Initiative (VEI), a global open innovation program and competition for start-ups and fintech companies. The helmsman of the startup that leverages technology, supply chain management, financial solutions, and product knowledge to enhance access to healthcare in emerging markets will take home the $20,000 prize. Mr Opara will now compete against the other regional champions from North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific at the VEI Global Finals, which

By Adedapo Adesanya The founder of Nigeria’s Wellahealth Technologies, Mr Ikpeme Neto, has been selected among the top 10 finalists of Africa’s Business Heroes Prize Competition, the philanthropic programme sponsored by Chinese billionaire, Mr Jack Ma. The foundation, now in its fifth year, announced this year’s finalists after an intense round of semi-finale business pitches and judging held on September 1 and 2 at Norrsken House in Kigali, Rwanda. Mr Neto will be among these 10 entrepreneurs who will compete for their share of the final prize of $1.5 million in grant funding at the competition’s grand finale scheduled for

By Ifeanyi Onuba The Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) has convened critical oncology stakeholders and strategic partners at the maiden edition of the NSIA Oncology Summit in Lagos. The move, according to a statement from NSIA on Wednesday, is to drive collaborations amongst partners and improve overall patient outcomes in cancer care. Participants at the Summit included over 200 medical professionals in oncology, over 11 Nigerian tertiary hospitals, as well as over 10 external collaborators from the University of Chicago; American Oncology Institute India; American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO); Bio Ventures for Global Health (BVGH); Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer

By Aduragbemi Omiyale Residents of Lagos will soon begin to enjoy quality healthcare services at their doorsteps with the collaboration between the Sterling Bank and the Lagos State government. The financial institution is funding the building of some Ilera Eko Virtual Booths across the state to ensure busy residents of the metropolis access health services with ease. The Lagos State government came up with Ilera Eko as part of its efforts to ensure citizens of the aquatic city have access to cheaper healthcare and deepen health insurance. But despite this initiative, some residents, because of their busy schedules, have not

By Dipo Olowookere Digital money transfer service, WorldRemit, is consolidating its rapid expansion into Tanzania, supporting the growing demand for instant remittances to the country from over 4 million expatriates living abroad. In view of this, WorldRemit is announcing a new record of 10,000 unique transactions completed in the month of December 2016 alone and 150 percent YoY growth in 2016, driven primarily by the rapid expansion of Mobile Money accounts as the preferred receive method. Also, WorldRemit said its customers can send money to Tanzania via Mobile Money to Tigo Pesa, Vodacom M-Pesa and Zantel Ezy Pesa Mobile Money

By Adedapo Adesanya With a career spanning over five years, fast-rising Music Public Relations consultant, Mr David Adeyemi, has taken the bull by the horn and is set to launch his debut publication, a book on music PR titled Music Promotion: A Guide To Hacking The Damn Thing! Mr Adeyemi explores the arduous journey of breaking into the scene in his first major publication which gives a fresh perspective on breaking through in the Nigerian music industry, one of the most competitive music industries worldwide. The publication also features inputs from seasoned professionals in the industry with the likes of

By Dipo Olowookere Stakeholders in the banking profession recently gathered at the weeklong Annual Cash & Trade Seminar organised by Citibank. During the programme, more than 45 professionals from different banks in the country were taken through current global developments and emerging trends in the banking world. Chief executive of Citi Nigeria, Mr Akinsowon Dawodu, who declared the event open, highlighted Citi’s partnership with other banks in the industry and reinforced Citi’s commitment to improving the standard of banking for all key stakeholders including regulators, banks and customers. He noted that the annual seminar was a demonstration of Citi’s commitment

By Aduragbemi Omiyale Nigeria has recorded a quarter-on-quarter decline of 54.06 per cent in the total value of capital importation into the country in the second quarter of 2021, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed. In a report released by the agency, it was disclosed that the FX inflows from April to June 2021 stood at $875.6 million in contrast to $1.9 billion recorded in the first quarter of this year. On a year-on-year basis, the capital importation went down by 32.38 per cent as the inflows in the same period of last year was $1.3 billion. Business

By Adedapo Adesanya The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to announce steps his administration was taking to obey the recent Supreme Court order on the Naira redesign. Last week, the Supreme Court extended the validity of the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes till December 31, stating that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) must continue to receive the notes from Nigerians. The court held that the President’s directive on the redesign of the new notes without due consultation is invalid. Business Post had reported that Justice John Inyang Okoro, on March 3, allowed

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has reduced the number of companies licenced to provide meters to Nigerians under the Meters Asset Providers (MAP) programme to 23. The agency, in its updated list, shortened the number of firms for the mass metering scheme from about 100 and explained that the decision was to enable controlled regulation of electricity meter distribution in the country. Meter providers authorised to now supply meters to energy consumers in the country are: Mojec Asset Management Company Limited, Turbo Energy Limited, Meron Nigeria Limited, FLT Energy Systems Limited, G-Unit Engineering Limited, Inlaks Power

Nigerians have been urged not to lose hope in the country, but remain optimistic on the emergence of a better Nigeria, which is not in any way misplaced. This advice was given by one of the leading groups of journalists and media practitioners, the Association of Online Media Practitioners of Nigeria (AMPON), in a Christmas message made available to newsmen on Wednesday. The group, in the statement signed on behalf of its Chairman, Mr Wole Arisekola, by the Acting Secretary, Olugbenga Bada, stated that Nigeria needs to imbibe the lessons of harmonious coexistence to engender development across the states of

By Investors Hub European stocks have turned higher over the course of the trading day on Wednesday after moving lower earlier in the session. While the German DAX Index has climbed by 0.7 percent, the U.K.?s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.8 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.9 percent. According to data from Nationwide Building Society, U.K. house prices grew 2 percent year-on-year in June following May’s 2.4 percent increase. Nonetheless, the pace of growth was faster than the expected 1.7 percent. Elsewhere, survey results from statistical office Insee showed that French consumer sentiment