Huawei Facilitates ICT Training for 600 Students in Nigeria, Others

By Modupe Gbadeyanka As part of efforts to meet the target of equipping one million technical talents with the requisite knowledge to excel in the industry, Moniepoint has sponsored the training of the pioneer cohort of the HatchDev programme. The HatchDev initiative is the brainchild of Nithub University of Lagos, designed to produce hundreds of market-ready software engineers every year. The scheme, which runs for nine months and started in October 2022, aspires to shape 300 junior software engineers, 100 intelligent systems developers, and 100 IoT/embedded systems engineers. The first beneficiaries have been trained to be readily absorbed into a

By Adedapo Adesanya The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Mr Aminu Maida, has charged Nokia Networks to increase its investments in Research and Development (R&D) to support the growth of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Nigeria. Mr Maida spoke when a delegation from Nokia Networks of Finland led by the Deputy Minister, Under-Secretary of State for International Trade from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Mr Jarno Syrjala, visited the commission recently to explore further opportunities for mutually beneficial relationships. He told the delegation that the Nigerian government is

By Adedapo Adesanya The Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Mr Bosun Tijani, has announced a N1 billion partnership between the ministry and IHS Towers, one of the largest independent communications infrastructure firms in the world, to establish the 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) Learning Community. The ministry earlier this month released a 31-page policy document titled Accelerating our Collective Prosperity through Technical Efficiency which outlined plans to boost the country’s economy through the use of technology. It said it would collaborate with other ministries and parastatals, including private sector stakeholders to drive opportunities for startups to facilitate the

By Adedapo Adesanya A new research from global payments giant, Visa, done across 17 countries in Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa (CEMEA) has revealed a disconnect between consumers’ confidence in recognising fraud and their online behaviour, highlighting the importance of staying alert and mindful of fraud attempts. The study forms Visa’s Stay Secure Campaign, focused on raising consumer awareness, strengthening education, and building confidence to combat social engineering threats. Despite more than half of consumers (56 per cent) claiming to be savvy enough to sidestep online and phone scams, it was found that 90 per cent

Fast moving consumer goods manufacturer, Unilever Nigeria Plc, has joined the ranks of multinationals leveraging the huge potential of e-commerce to create more visibility for their brands in the country. In order to reach more customers, Unilever Nigeria has officially launched its store on Jumia, Nigeria’s number one online shopping destination, dubbed the ‘Everyday Essentials Store’. The online store houses some of the company’s fast-selling brands such as Close-up Red Hot and Herbal lines, Knorr, Lifebuoy, Lux, Pepsodent, Sunlight, Vaseline, and Shea Moisture. In a joint media statement released by the two companies, the Head of Key Accounts and Brand

By Adedapo Adesanya Nigeria’s leading financial technology (fintech) company, Flutterwave, has secured $170 million in Series C funding from investors. A statement signed on Wednesday by the Head of Branding and Storytelling at Flutterwave, Ms Yewande Akomolafe-Kalu, disclosed that the round was led by growth-equity firms, Avenir Growth Capital and Tiger Global Management LLC. Other participants (new and existing) included DST Global, Early Capital Berrywood, Green Visor Capital, Greycroft Capital, Insight Ventures, PayPal, Salesforce Ventures, Tiger Management, WorldpayFIS, and 9yards Capital. The new funding package brings the total investment in Flutterwave to $225 million and is one of only a

By Adedapo Adesanya Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc has completed the transfer of the business activities and assets of OMLs 4, 38 and 41 from the holding company to its wholly owned subsidiary, Seplat West Limited. This was disclosed in a statement from the company secretary/chief governance compliance officer, Mrs Edith Onwuchekwa, who noted that the transfer is effective January 1, 2020. “This Intra-Group transfer has been planned for some time and will not result in any change to the current business strategy for any of the assets nor will it affect the way in which the Seplat Group commercially operates. “Therefore, the

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Debt Management Office (DMO) is today auctioning some bonds worth N60 billion at the local debt market. The debt office, which is selling the papers on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), will sell the debt instruments across three tenors. Details of the exercise indicated that all the three maturities are re-openings of the previous instruments sold to investors at the previous auctions. From the circular obtained by Business Post concerning the auction, the DMO would be selling N20 billion each of the 5-year, 15-year and 30-year bonds today. It said the FGN APR

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A man employed by Jaiz Bank Plc has been convicted by Justice Fadawu Umaru of the Borno State High Court, sitting in Maiduguri. The convict, Mr Imam Malik, was found guilty of defrauding one of the customers of the Islamic financial institution located in Borno State. Mr Malik was charged to court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a one-count charge bordering on cheating to the tune of N1.5 million. He was said to have fraudulently collected the N1.5 million from one Mr Muhammad Sani Abubakar for a purported Mudaraba Investment with Jaiz Bank

By Dipo Olowookere Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has informed both local and foreign investors that “Nigeria is ready to do business,” assuring them that they no longer have to worry about “additional burden of bureaucratic delays and problems of various kinds” that used to scare them away in the past. Mr Osinbajo made this assurance at the mid-lab syndication for the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) Focus Labs held at the Sheraton Hotels, Abuja, on Thursday, April 5, 2018. The Vice President, who described the lab as “very unique”, said he was “thoroughly impressed” with what he had

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The management of SunTrust Bank has refuted claims that it owes some members of staff of the National Assembly. Earlier this week, some legislative aides staged a protest at the National Assembly complex in Abuja, claiming the lender has refused to pay them their salaries, leading to the death of one Mr Hassan Abiodun, an aide to the Deputy Speaker, Mr Yusuf Suleiman. But addressing newsmen yesterday over the matter, the bank, through its Executive Director in charge of Finance and Risk Management, Mr Usman Abdulqadir, said there was no truth in the claims. Speaking with journalists

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A sugar production factory capable of creating over 15,000 jobs is to be situated on a 16,000-hectare of land at Lavun Local Government Area of Niger State. On Wednesday, August 23, 2017, President of Dangote Group, Mr Aliko Dangote, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the state government for the $450million state-of–art and fully integrated sugar complex. Mr Dangote noted that his decision to start the factory was part of his desire to achieve self-sufficiency in sugar production through the government’s backward integration policy. At the signing today in Minna, Mr Dangote said when the project