GBfoods Facilitates Free Cataract Surgeries for 400 in Enugu

By Adedapo Adesanya The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) and Speak Up Africa have announced the CEO of Nigeria’s healthtech startup, Mrs Teniola Adedeji, alongside Dr Ochora Moses (Uganda) as the winners of the second edition of the Africa Young Innovators for Health Award. The announcement was made at the Galien Forum Africa, which celebrates creativity and excellence in science in Africa. The Africa Young Innovators for Health Award supports pioneering young entrepreneurs with financial and in-kind opportunities they need to advance their innovations for better health outcomes in their communities. Mrs Izath Nura (Uganda) and Mr

By Aduragbemi Omiyale From February 2024, a leading pharmaceutical company, Sanofi-Aventi Nigeria Limited, will put a stop to its direct operations in the country, opting to hand over this business to a yet-to-be-named third party. In a statement signed by the Country Lead for Sanofi, Ms Folake Odediran, it was noted that this new business model was adopted for the “commercialisation of Sanofi portfolio of medicines” through a major distributor. This business model is also to be adopted by another player in the sector, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Nigeria Plc, which announced its planned exit from the Nigerian market a few months

By Adedapo Adesanya One of the largest private tertiary healthcare organisations in West Africa, Iwosan Lagoon Hospital, has launched a new state-of-the-art medical facility in Victoria Island, Lagos as part of its bid to reduce medical tourism in the country. The multi-speciality hospital, founded in 1986, has a team of world-class healthcare experts and advanced technology-driven medical equipment, including a Catheterization Laboratory (Cath Lab) and a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan. The 27-bed facility offers a wide range of primary, secondary, and tertiary healthcare services and is positioned to be the Centre of Excellence for Advanced Cardiology & Cardiac Surgeries.

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 Ahmed Rahma As part of its micro grant programme, the Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF) has disbursed the sum of N3.9 billion to 392,490 women and youths in Kano, Jigawa, Kogi, Adamawa, Borno, Yobe, Lagos, Niger, Nasarawa, Sokoto and Katsina States. The foundation has also concluded plans to extend the disbursement of the micro grant program to Ogun, Osun, Kwara, Edo, Rivers, Anambra, Ebonyi and Bauchi States as part of the next phase of this programme. Speaking, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Office of ADF, Ms Zouera Youssoufou, stated that the board of the foundation has already approved the next phase

By Dipo Olowookere Leading media relations consultancy for Africa and the Middle East, APO Group, has announced signing a new contract with Ecobank. A statement issued by APO Group explained that the new deal will support Ecobank and Ecobank Foundation in optimizing the awareness of their activities across Africa which are: providing vital support to Global Fund malaria programs both through financial contributions and by catalysing engagement from like-minded organizations; strengthening financial management capacity programs; offering innovative solutions to financial challenges: Ecobank advocates for the mission of its implementing partners by engaging the bank’s customers and employees in awareness campaigns

By Adedapo Adesanya The oil market was bearish on Wednesday on news that the United States President, Mr Donald Trump, has dashed hopes for another stimulus package to boost the coronavirus-hit economy as data showed that crude inventories also rose last week. The international benchmark futures, Brent crude, fell by 1.38 per cent or 59 cents to trade at $42.66 per barrel while the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures dropped by 1.67 per cent or 68 cents to $39.99 per barrel. President Trump said he would end negotiations on a new fiscal stimulus package, dampening hopes that

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Usman Alkali Baba, has been ordered by the House of Representatives to prosecute the killers of one Sylvester Oromoni, a student of Dowen College, Lekki, Lagos. The death of the Dowen student has sparked reactions on social media for some days. This was triggered by the video of the painful dying moment of the boy released by his family. Sylvester was allegedly beaten to death by five students of the school over his refusal to join a cult group, according to the family of the deceased. The Lagos State Police Command

By Adedapo Adesanya The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)-partnered King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the use of ICT in education has opened and is accepting applications. The theme of the 2020 edition is the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance the continuity and quality of learning. The recent crisis in the education sector as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has made the focus of this year’s event very important. Technology innovations fueled by AI have the potential to locate and reach excluded and marginalized groups and provide quality learning programmes for learners in

By Dipo Olowookere Recently, distributors of products of Promasidor were flown to South Africa for a programme called ‘Promasidor Distributors Forum’. At the event, the merchants were lectured on the latest trends in the world of distribution of products and marketing. Present at the occasion, which took place in Cape Town, was the Managing Director of Promasidor, Mr Olivier Thiry, who expressed the company’s gratitude to the wholesalers. He described them as part of the success story of the firm and further solicited for their continued support in moving the company forward. At the forum, some of the distributors were

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The treasury bills market was relatively quiet on Monday as investors look ahead for a fruitful trading week. At the close of transactions, the average yields slightly went up 0.15 percent to settle at 11.97 percent. Business Post reports that the market players are anticipating the inflows of N452 billion on Thursday from OMO T-bills maturing on that day. Meanwhile, the money market rates marginally increased yesterday, but still remaining in single digit. While the Open Buy Back (OBB) rate rose to 7.92 percent from 4.33 percent, the Overnight (OVN) rate jumped to 8.50 percent from 5.33

By Dipo Olowookere The positive momentum on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) continued on Tuesday despite having more sellers than buyers at the market. Business Post reports that despite this, the market breadth closed negative yesterday with 18 price losers and 13 price gainers, indicating that the advance/decline ratio weakened by 0.7x. It was observed the 0.08 percent appreciation posted by the NSE on Tuesday was buoyed by the gains recorded by MTN Nigeria during the trading session. At the close of transactions yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased marginally by 21.65 points to finish at 27,586.79