Wellahealth’s Ikpeme Neto Among Africa’s Business Heroes Finalists

Every day across Africa, people turn to Google products like Search, YouTube and Fitbit for insights about their health and wellbeing. But many may not know that we have also been researching how AI can help improve healthcare outcomes for people, and how AI can empower our partners to deliver better health services — from improving maternal health outcomes to building useful digital tools for healthcare workers. To mark the upcoming Africa HealthTech Summit in Kigali, Rwanda — an event that brings together a diverse group of digital health innovators and public health experts to share knowledge and ideas to

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 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 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 Dipo Olowookere The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has submitted a report to President Muhammadu Buhari linking Senate President, Mr Bukola Saraki, and some of his aides to the diversion of about N19 billion from the N522bn Paris Club refund. The report also fingered Mr Robert Mbonu of Melrose General Services Limited, who is a former Managing Director of Societe Generale Bank of Nigeria, the commercial bank owned by the Saraki family which was later liquidated. The Federal Government had, in December 2016, approved the sum of N522.74 billion to be paid to the 36 states of the

Modupe Gbadeyanka The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been advised to urgently come up with ways to restrict how commercial banks operating in the country have free access to government securities. Government securities are debt instruments issued to investors to obtain funds to executive some critical infrastructures and services. They are considered risk free. In recent times, financial institutions, rather than provide credit facilities to investors and business owners, take funds kept in their custody to invest in government securities like the treasury bills and bonds, which offer them huge returns. On Monday and Tuesday, the Monetary Policy Committee

Coworking spaces are quickly becoming essential for modern business start-ups. From providing a space to work to collaborating with other like-minded entrepreneurs, coworking spaces have the potential to be powerful innovators of modern business practices. Reduce Business Start-Up Costs Starting a business takes significant planning, time, and money to succeed. Business startups need to be strategic in allocating their limited resources. It is the primary reason why they need a coworking space. Coworking spaces are cost-effective since numerous facilities can be shared, such as internet access, printing services, and amenities like coffee machines. In addition, companies don’t need to worry

By Dipo Olowookere Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, on Tuesday participated in a Special Town Meeting with Youths in Abuja bearing an unmistakable message of hope even as he called for patience and hard work among Nigerians as the panacea for the much desired national economic recovery. Mr Fashola, who spoke at the Town Hall Meeting with Nigerian Youths in Abuja organised by the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, prefaced his contribution with an acknowledgement of his age and some of his colleagues as being beyond the youth bracket but quickly added that he has

By Adedapo Adesanya The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will slowly but surely phase out old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes with the redesigned ones, according to the Acting CBN Governor, Mr Folashodun Shonubi. The apex bank head gave this response while fielding questions on Tuesday after the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja. At the end of the two-day bi-monthly meeting, the apex bank raised the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by 25 basis points from 18.5 per cent to 18.75 per cent. At the same time, it adjusted the asymmetric corridor to +100/-300 from +100/-700 and retained

By Adedapo Adesanya President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday appointed the Deputy Corps Marshal (DCM) Finance and Accounts, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr Dauda Ali Biu, as the Acting Corps Marshal as Mr Boboye Oyeyemi bowed out of service on July 24. The former Corps Marshal confirmed this development while handing over affairs of the traffic agency at the FRSC headquarters on Monday in Abuja. According to a statement issued by the Corps Public Education Officer (CPEO), Assistant Corps Marshal (ACM), Mr Bisi Kazeem, President Buhari said Mr Biu to take charge of the FRSC from July 24, wishing him a

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Tolu Oniru-Demuren, widely known as ‘Toolz’, has one of the most popular voices on Nigerian airwaves. As a multi-award winning presenter, talk show host and assistant director of programmes at Beat FM, she is already a media mogul. Not the least insecure about her figure, she has carved a niche for herself in the broadcast industry, while also serving as an inspiration for women all over world – especially curvy ladies. With confidence and style that seem to flow from her scalp to her toenails, Toolz has consistently shared personal stories about her tough experiences before attaining

By Adedapo Adesanya Web payments firm, Stripe, which acquired Nigerian company, Paystack last year, has raised a fresh $600 million funding round to raise its valuation to $95 billion and become the most valuable private company Silicon Valley has produced. The latest fundraise includes primary investors such as Allianz X, Axa, Baillie Gifford, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Sequoia Capital, and Ireland’s National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA). The Irish company says it will use the capital to invest in its European operations and its Dublin headquarters, in particular, support surging demand from enterprise heavyweights across Europe and expand its Global