WhatsApp Adds Feature to Create Unnamed Groups

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) changed the numbering format for fixed lines from January 1 next year. The agency said the fixed-lines numbering format will no longer be eight digits but would be 10 digits, with the addition of the 02 prefix before the existing fixed number. This change is totally different to the existing mobile numbering format. The decision is in keeping with its responsibilities under the enabling law, the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) 2003, to manage Nigeria’s numbering resources, according to Mr Reuben Muoka, the Director of Public Affairs at the NCC, in a statement.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Three leading makers of 5G-enabled smartphones, Samsung, Tecno, and Infinix, will work with Airtel Nigeria to drive the adoption of the latest technology in the telecommunications industry. The GSM network provider has partnered with the companies as part of its commitment to enhance innovation, improve customer experience, and drive the adoption of 5G technology to transform various aspects of customers’ daily activities. According to the Chief Commercial Officer of Airtel Nigeria, Mr Femi Oshinlaja, the strategic partnership is not only to increase access to the latest technological advancements but also to encourage consumers to take advantage of

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 Dipo Olowookere More corporate organisations are looking in the direction of commercial papers to raise short-term capital aimed to finance some of their operations. The latest firm considering this option is Guinness Nigeria Plc, one of the leading brewers in the country trading its shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). The sector has been struggling since the federal government introduced a new excise duty regime, causing major players in the space to fight for survival, especially when they are unable to pass the price to consumers. Guinness Nigeria, in its third quarter of the 2020 financial year, recorded

By Adedapo Adesanya Fidelity Bank Plc has announced plans to issue bonds worth N100 billion in the fourth quarter of the year to boost its capital ratios and funding capacity. This was made known by the bank’s Chief Operations and Information Officer, Mr Gbolahan Joshua, during an analysts’ call on Tuesday. The Lagos-based lender will issue the debt in a series, starting with a N50 billion offer which will commence anytime from October. The extra funds will help increase the bank’s capital adequacy ratio by 2 percentage points, from 18.8 per cent in June, he said. The bank also plans

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The sum of $25.46 billion is expected to be raised by the Federal Government from the World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Islamic Development between now and 2018. Also, the Nigerian government will turn to the Japanese International Cooperation Agency and the China Export Import Bank to borrow the money meant to complement the dwindling resources from oil and gas. It would be recalled that on Tuesday, President Muhammadu Buhari had in a letter to the National Assembly sought the approval of the lawmakers for external borrowing of $29.96 billion to cover the 2016-2018 rolling

By Adedapo Adesanya Global Initiative for Food Security and Ecosystem Preservation (GIFSEP), in conjunction with Oxfam in Nigeria, has advised Nigerians to vote for a presidential candidate that is climate change conscious as the 2023 election draws near. Executive Director of GIFSEP, Mr David Michael, made this demand at the grand finale of the African climate caravan in Abuja on Tuesday ahead of the 27th Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP 27), set to hold in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt this week. He said the African climate caravan is a movement involving several African countries that are telling African

By Dipo Olowookere Oil workers under the under the umbrella of National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), have been urged to halt their planned industrial action over a labour dispute involving the management of Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL), a multi-national oil company operating in Nigeria. This appeal was made by the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr Maikanti Baru. The unions had recently called on the National Assembly, the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the NNPC, the Department of State

By Adedapo Adesanya The Senate has passed the 2022-2024 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP) ahead of the presentation of the 2022 Appropriations bill to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari. The passage of the 2022-2024 MTEF/FSP followed the report by the Joint Committees on Finance; Local and Foreign Debts; Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions; Petroleum Resources (Upstream); Downstream Petroleum Sector and Gas. The Joint Committee report was presented by Mr Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, who chairs the Finance Committee. The chamber, during consideration of the report, gave its nod to the federal government’s revenue projection

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Data released today by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) revealed that the country’s manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) increased in the month of September 2017. In the CBN’s PMI Survey Report obtained by Business Post on Thursday, the apex bank noted the manufacturing PMI increased to 55.3 index points this month, indicating expansion in the manufacturing sector for the sixth consecutive month. The report explained that 14 of the 16 subsectors reported growth in the review month in the following order: appliances & components; electrical equipment; chemical & pharmaceutical products; non-metallic mineral products; printing & related

By Modupe Gbadeyanka To make communication easier and reduce the cost of procuring handsets for multiple SIMs, Airtel Nigeria has introduced an embedded SIM (eSIM). A statement issued by the leading telecommunications services provider disclosed that the planet-friendly service allows customers to use two numbers without needing two mobile phones. This digital SIM, according to Airtel Nigeria, also enables customers to access the same functionality as someone using a physical SIM. It offers several benefits over traditional SIM cards as it is quick and simple to set up online, and it is planet-friendly (plastic-free/zero carbon emission). The eSIM service is