Interswitch to Hold 2023 Techconnect in Five Nigerian Cities

By Adedapo Adesanya X, formerly known as Twitter, has announced plans to introduce voice and video calls to the platform. This is the latest move by the billionaire owner, Mr Elon Musk, to turn his app into what he calls an “everything app” modelled after China’s super app, WeChat. These features, when introduced, would place X in direct competition with WhatsApp, Telegram, and other social media apps offering the same services. Making its features unique, Mr Musk said users would not need phone numbers to make calls on X. According to the Twitter owner, the features would work on different

By Aduragbemi Omiyale For the fifth consecutive year, Interswitch has received the ISO 22301 recertification for Business Continuity Management (BCM) after a rigorous surveillance audit process. A leading provider of audit and certification services in the field of information security and privacy, MSECB, served in the capacity of auditors for the certification process. The certification process involved rigorous audits and evaluations of Interswitch’s business processes, contingency plans, and disaster recovery capabilities. In a statement, Interswitch enthused that maintaining the ISO 22301 certification is a testament to its comprehensive approach to risk assessment, mitigation, and recovery planning. The achievement of the

New search trends released by Google show that search interest in AI has reached an all-time high in Nigeria. The trends show that people have searched for AI more than ever in 2023 so far, with interest rising 310% since last year, and by 1,660% in the last five years. Google’s research also revealed the top trending questions being asked about AI across Nigeria. Here, Google West Africa Director, Olumide Balogun, answers some of the most frequently asked questions. What is Artificial Intelligence and how does it work? AI is a type of technology that can learn from its environment,

The pinnacle of technological innovation and thought leadership, Art of Technology Lagos (AOT), returns for its fifth edition, AOT 5.0. With an unwavering commitment to progress, this year’s conference dives into two crucial pillars that are shaping Lagos’s future: “The Creative Economy” and “A Digital Lagos.“ Curated by the Eko Innovation Centre in collaboration with the Lagos State Government, AOT 5.0 promises to be an unparalleled gathering of visionaries, industry leaders, and changemakers. Lagos’s creative economy sector is a dynamic force that fuels the state’s economic growth, encompassing diverse industries such as film, music, fashion, design, and advertising. This ecosystem

By Dipo Olowookere President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday confirmed that the land borders closed for more than one year would be reopened anytime soon. Mr Buhari made this confirmation when he gave an update on the meeting he had with Governors of the 36 states of the federation in Abuja. He said Nigeria’s porous land borders were shut in August 2019 because of the incessant smuggling of arms and drugs into the country as well as contrabands. According to him, the country’s neighbours, who had pushed for the reopening of the borders because the action was hurting their economies, have

By Dipo Olowookere Corporate organisations have been urged to step-up their corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects for the benefit of the people. This call was made by the Rivers State Governor, Mr Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, during a courtesy visit by MTN Foundation at Government House, Port Harcourt last Thursday. The Governor said that small scale projects by high-profile corporate organisations were a disservice to the people, calling on corporate organisations to liaise with the state government for the initiation and execution of projects. He commended MTN Foundation for introducing Market Doctor, which will assist traders to access quality medicare. He

By Dipo Olowookere Governor of Edo State, Mr Godwin Obaseki, is on the verge of completing a deal worth $200 million for a textile industry to be operated by the anchor tenant at the Benin Enterprise Park (BEP), as part of concerted efforts to industrialise the state. It was gathered that the embattled Governor is in Shandong Province, the third largest province in China by population and GDP, to attract more companies to expand into the BEP. It is important to state that the Shandong Province has become a power house for manufacturing and export. From information confirmed by Mr

By Adedapo Adesanya The 36 states of the federation have written to the federal government, warning it not to tamper with funds accruing to them and the 774 local government councils under the guise of satisfying an alleged $418 million London/Paris Club Loan refund-related judgment debts. According to Channels Television, the states in a letter dated April 4 said they were not parties to any suit on the refund on the Paris Club debt and as such were not liable to any person or entity in any judgment debt being relied on by the central government. Speaking through the Body

By Dipo Olowookere Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ms Christine Lagarde, has announced her resignation from the global lender. In a statement on Tuesday, the French economist said she has communicated her decision to exit the organization to the Executive Board. Ms Lagarde is leaving the IMF in anticipation of being the next President of the European Central Bank (ECB). “I have met with the Executive Board and submitted my resignation from the Fund with effect from September 12, 2019. The relinquishment of my responsibilities as Managing Director announced previously will remain in effect until then. “With

By Adedapo Adesanya Crude oil prices rose on Friday on the back of sustained global energy, causing the Brent crude to increase by 44 cents or 0.54 per cent to $82.39 per barrel, while the United States West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained 1.34 per cent or $1.05 to $79.35 per barrel. The surge in the prices of the commodity as well as natural gas and coal in recent days has been due to an energy crunch affecting Europe and Asia. Benchmark European gas prices at the Dutch TTF hub on Friday stood at a crude oil equivalent of about $200

By Dipo Olowookere The National Council of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has given Transcorp Hotels Plc till October 2023 to comply with the 20 per cent free float. The three-year extension is to avert the possible banning of the shares of the company on the exchange’s trading platform because of the violation of one of the listing rules. Business Post reports that companies trading their stocks on the NSE are required to allow 20 per cent of their shares to be with the investing public. According to the rules, failure to adhere to this can force the exchange to

Mutual funds are large pools of investor money entrusted to professional managers who try to achieve certain investment objectives. Mutual funds trace their history to the Massachusetts Investors Trust, which was founded in 1924. “Passively” managed funds track a market index; “actively” managed funds follow the guidelines laid out in the fund’s prospectus, which spells out what the fund can and cannot invest in. Mutual funds offer several key advantages. The biggest is instant diversity. No investor wants to risk putting all his eggs in one basket, and a Mutual fund, which may have billions of dollars under management, spreads