Niger Raises Salary of Health Workers

By Dipo Olowookere African governments have been charged to adopt “a more innovative model of primary health delivery with grassroots-focused universal health coverage structure that is customised to suit the peculiarities” of the continent. This advice was given by the Chairman and chief executive of Elkris Group, Dr Elliott Scott Omose, during a media chat with newsmen over the weekend. The healthcare practitioner, who described primary healthcare in Africa as non-existent, said the continent has the capacity to deliver quality service to its citizens. Mr Omose is also the founder of PreDiagnosis International, an innovative public healthcare management non-profit organisation

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has restated its striking position as it insists that the federal government was yet to accept its demands, indicating that the nationwide strike would continue after the proposal of a N25,000 increment. The NARD President, Dr Emeka Orji, during a press conference in Lagos State on Saturday, July 29, affirmed the development. According to him, the action will go on “until reasonable progress is made by the government to address our demands as contained in the ultimatum issued to the Federal Government on the 15th of July, 2023”. The NARD

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 Ifthakaar Shaik The African healthcare industry faces an immediate challenge: a dire shortage of skilled professionals, leading to alarmingly low doctor and nurse-to-population ratios in many countries. Training medical professionals, especially specialists like pathologists or oncologists, is a multi-year-long process. Moreover, foundational education at the primary and secondary levels is crucial to supply tertiary institutions with a stream of candidates equipped with the necessary aptitude, literacy, and numeracy skills to pursue medicine. Recent technological leaps catalysed by the COVID-19 pandemic and expanding telecommunications infrastructure, including ventures like Starlink, have bridged some of the distance between communities in need of

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The trade volume between Nigeria and Singapore reached N846bn from 2011 to 2015, while the absolute balance of trade was N222 billion in favour of Nigeria. This submission was made by the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, on Wednesday in Abuja at the signing of an agreement on avoidance of double taxation with Singapore. Mrs Adeosun noted that negotiations for the agreement on avoidance of double taxation were held in Singapore in October 2013 but was concluded in October 2014. The Minister explained that Singapore was identified as a suitable tax treaty partner for Nigeria because

By Dipo Olowookere The last trading session before Christmas on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended on a positive note on Friday, December 23, 2022. This was because the bourse appreciated further by 0.42 per cent at the close of transactions, buoyed by sustained buying interest in mid and large-cap stocks listed on the platform. This cemented the grip of the bulls on the equity exchange yesterday, with the market breadth ending bullish, with 30 price gainers and 10 price losers, indicating a very strong investor sentiment. Geregu Power was the best-performing stock during the session as

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The latest edition of the Ericsson Mobility Report has predicted that 5G subscriptions will hit one billion this year and 4.4 billion in 2025, with North America expected to lead in the next five years with 9 of every 10 subscriptions in the region to be 5G by 2027. The report, which is the 22nd of Ericsson’s network traffic insights and forecasts, also revealed that global mobile network data traffic doubled in the past two years, driven by increased smartphone and mobile broadband usage, as well as the digitalization of society and industries. The recent statistics and

By Investors Hub European stocks have moved mostly higher on Thursday after a measure of U.S. consumer prices barely rose in May, bolstering expectations for Fed rate cuts this year. However, the upside remains limited as euro-area finance ministers meet in Luxembourg to discuss disciplinary action on Italy over its debt load. Elsewhere, the 10 candidates running to replace Britain’s outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May are facing the first round of voting today. While the German DAX Index has climbed by 0.4 percent, the U.K.?s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr Abdulrasak Namdaz, has disclosed that the 2017 appropriation bill would most likely be ready after the end of the Easter break. “Hopefully, we will pass this (2017) budget when we come back from the Easter break. Even the Federal Government is taking advantage of the non-passage of the 2017 Budget,” Mr Namdaz stated at a press conference in Abuja. At the news briefing on Thursday, the lawmaker stated that the N7.3 trillion appropriation bill, christened ‘Budget of Recovery and Growth’, would be given proper

By Adedapo Adesanya The Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), Mr Heineken Lokpobiri, has expressed appreciation to the management of Tantita Security Services Limited for their efforts in pipeline protection in the Niger Delta region. The Minister gave this commendation on Saturday while fielding questions from reporters during his tour of oil facilities in the Niger Delta. Mr Lokpobiri, who was accompanied on the tour by the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mr Mele Kyari, among other government officials, said the President Bola Tinubu-led administration is determined to stop all forms of pipeline vandalism

By Dipo Olowookere The key performance indicators of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) remained bearish on Tuesday after a 0.69 per cent loss influenced by persistent profit-taking in the banking space. Inflationary pressures and others are forcing investors to rebalance their portfolios as they make efforts to adjust to new realities. Yesterday on Customs Street, the banking index closed 1.31 per cent lower, while the insurance sector depreciated by 0.06 per cent. The duo inflicted a loss on the exchange and weakened the impact of the 0.16 per cent growth posted by the consumer goods counter and the 0.04 per cent

By Adedapo Adesanya After different meetings and disagreements, both the federal government and the labour union have reached a consensus on the issue of adjustment to the new minimum wage signed by President Muhammadu Buhari recently. Business Post had reported that disagreements had risen over the adjustment of the minimum wage across board following the assent of the President to the new minimum wage law in April, this year. The labour union was demanding a 29 percent salary increase for officers on salary level 07 to 14, and 24 percent adjustment for officers on salary grade level 15 to 17.