Visa Enables Use of Cryptocurrency for Transactions

By Aduragbemi Omiyale If urgent steps are not taken, Nigeria’s telecommunications industry, believed to be worth about $75.6 billion, could be at risk because of the widening skills gap. This was the submission of a renowned telecoms policy enthusiast, Mr Omobayo Azeez, at the just-concluded second edition of the Nigerian Telecommunications Indigenous Content Expo (NTICE 2023) organised in Lagos by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). In his keynote address on Bridging Skills Gap to Accelerate the Indigenous Telecoms Development, Mr Azeez argued that the rising skills gap in the country was becoming a challenge to the sector. He posited that

By Aduragbemi Omiyale A 10-week equity-free accelerator for African startups designed to tutor participants on how to use artificial intelligence to solve local challenges has been introduced by Google. The initiative is called Google for Startups Accelerator: AI First. It recognises the transformative role AI is playing across the world, innovating industries and reimagining the realms of possibilities. It also highlights the significant contributions of African startups in addressing some of the region’s most pressing challenges through the use of AI. A statement from Google disclosed that application for the programme has commenced. It is for startups up to series

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said Nigeria now ranks seventh in terms of mobile phone usage globally while it takes the 11th spot in terms of internet penetration. The NCC Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Mr Umar Danbatta, disclosed this while speaking at the opening ceremony of a two-day workshop on emerging technology forum for the telecommunications industry in Abuja on Thursday. Mr Danbatta, who was represented by Mr Abraham Osahadami, the NCC’s Head of Spectrum Database Management, said 82 per cent of the country’s 200 million+ population are telecom subscribers while just 29 per cent

By Adedapo Adesanya WhatsApp has announced that its latest update will allow users to share Higher Definition (HD) photos through the messaging app. According to an announcement shared by Meta CEO, Mr Mark Zuckerberg, on his Instagram broadcast channel and via a Facebook post on Friday, the HD photos feature is rolling out to global users over the next few weeks, followed by support for HD videos. The feature, which allows users to preserve the high-def resolution of the photos they share with friends and family, was previously in beta testing with select users. To access the new feature, users

By Dipo Olowookere Worried by attacks on voters in Igbo dominated areas of Lagos during the February 23, 2019 presidential and National Assembly elections, a group known as the South East Revival Group (SERG) has urged federal government and all security agencies “to ensure no Nigerian got molested for exercising their franchise in accordance with the laws of the land.” In a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday and signed by its National Coordinator, Mr Willy Ezugwu, SERG noted that it was “baffled that Nigeria can degenerate into the level of anarchy witnessed during the presidential and national legislative elections

By Dipo Olowookere The buying and selling of Continental Reinsurance shares by shareholders on the local equity market have been suspended by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). The suspension was announced by the regulator in a circular issued yesterday to members of the investing community and it takes effect from Thursday, November 28, 2019. It was explained that the action was taken to prevent further trading in the shares of the company as a result of proposed sale of the firm’s equities by an investor. Shares of Continental Reinsurance were initially suspended in July 2019 by the NSE, but was

By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and his delegation visited Russia from June 14 through 16 to forge a strategic partnership between the two countries. He went to Moscow at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin. This special invitation had been conveyed by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during his visit to Algiers in May last year to strengthen relations of “friendship and cooperation” between the two countries. Some Algerian media have criticized the visit amid Russia’s war in Ukraine. The Algerian leader brought an extensive ministerial delegation to attend the 26th International Economic Forum (SPIEF)held at the

By Adedapo Adesanya Nigeria recorded a decrease in its total capital importation in the third quarter of 2019 as the amount of investment inflows into the country stood at $5.4 million, 7.8 percent lower from the second quarter of this year, $5.8 billion, but 87.9 percent higher than the Q3, 2018 figures. In a report released on Monday morning by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), it was stated that the largest percentage of the third quarter capital importation came from the portfolio investment, accounting for 55.9 percent or $2.99 billion. This was followed by Other Investment with 40.4 percent

By Adedapo Adesanya The Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has urged the private sector to take advantage of enterprise-driven innovations that will create impact ecosystems to foster inclusive growth and recovery. He made the call at the second edition of the Africa Social Impact Summit (ASIS) 2023, held on Thursday in Lagos, themed Global Vision, Local Action: Repositioning the African Development Ecosystem for Sustainable Outcomes, which was organised by Sterling One Foundation alongside the United Nations in Nigeria, the private sector and international development space. Mr Sanwo-Olu, who his deputy, Mr Obafemi Hamzat, represented, explained that the summit

By Modupe Gbadeyanka As part of efforts to minimise the risks of investing in cryptocurrencies, Triaconta has announced the introduction of Combicoin to make the cryptocurrency market accessible for a larger audience. According to Triaconta, CombiCoin is 100 percent asset backed by the top 30 cryptocurrencies with the highest market cap. It noted that because of this the CombiCoin will not suddenly plunge and investors will have less risks when there are major fluctuations. There are over 1000 cryptocurrencies on the market and together they represent a value of $130 billion. However, all these coins are very volatile. For example,

By Dipo Olowookere A new platform aimed to boost confidence of investors in the nation’s financial markets has been introduced by the management of FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange. The new platform, called the FMDQ’s Q-ex, is a customised fully-integrated multiasset trading system with attendant post-trade services capabilities. The FMDQ’s Q-ex has been integrated with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s Scripless Securities Settlement System (S4) to provide Straight-through-Processing (STP) capabilities for efficient settlement in the fixed income market, improving the efficiency of the trading, reporting and settlement processes, whilst further developing, in no small measure, the Nigerian financial markets. Business

By Dipo Olowookere As part of efforts to boost foreign exchange (FX) inflows through diaspora remittances, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is offering an extra N5 for every Dollar sent to recipients in the country. The apex bank, in a circular issued on Saturday and signed by A.S Jibrin for the Director of Trade and Exchange Department, disclosed that this reward system will last for two months. The notice said this initiative is under the CBN Naira 4 Dollar Scheme and was designed to sustain the encouraging increase in inflows of diaspora remittances into the country. It further said