Ojude Oba Festival Committee Praises Goldberg

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The strong demand for international travel across regions, especially as the airline business recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, has helped Emirates Group, one of the big players in the aviation industry, to generate about $18.3 billion in the first six months of the financial year of the firm. On Thursday, the company released its financial statements for the 2023/24 fiscal year, with earnings rising by 20 per cent from the $15.3 billion achieved a day ago. The organisation, in the period under review, illustrated its strong profitability, as net profit went up by 138 per

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Steps are being taken by a leading amusement park and resort in Nigeria, Omu Resort, to ensure Delta State become the latest global tourism hub. The company has come up with a multifaceted initiative known as Discover Delta to attract tourists across the world to the oil-rich state and earn scarce foreign exchange (FX) for the country. It intends to achieve this goal and redefine the tourism landscape in Delta State through the Leisure Park and Film Village Asaba. A statement from the firm said in September 2023; it would launch the Discover Delta initiative, which encompasses

By Aduragbemi Omiyale Residents of Delta State will enjoy 2023 Christmas like never before as the management of Leisure Park has decided to take this year’s Christmas extravaganza to the South-South state. Tagged Christmas in Delta, the event will commence on December 1, 2023, and will run through to January 14, 2024, across multiple locations in the 25 local government areas of the state. The Public Relations Officer of Leisure Park, Mr Godday Umukoro, said in a statement that this was part of the company’s determination to ensure Deltans see Christmas in another prism. According to him, Christmas in Delta

By Adedapo Adesanya The federal government, through the Ministry of Aviation, has assured airline operators that it would liaise with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the allocation of foreign exchange (forex) to them at a single-digit interest rate as low as 1.5 per cent. However, the central government said it would soon begin to compel domestic airlines to compensate passengers for incessant delays and cancellations of flights. The Minister of Aviation, Mr Festus Keyamo, while speaking on flight disruption challenges during a meeting with the officials of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) in Abuja, said efforts would be

It has been clear for some weeks that Nigeria is experiencing the second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak. There has been a rapid and steady rise in the number of positive cases reported daily as well as a rise in the positivity rate. The positivity rate rose from an average of about 8% in November and presently stands at an average of 28%. The disease is affecting both the young and the elderly and some affected people may experience long-term sequelae of the disease. People are dying from this disease and it is imperative that we accept the seriousness of

By Dipo Olowookere A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed by the American University of Ras Al Khaimah (AURAK) and Neon Energy Green Building Construction Materials, a multinational German firm which focuses on energy-efficiency and renewable solutions. Neon Energy will assist the university throughout its participation in the 2018 Solar Decathlon Middle East competition, which will see AURAK construct an entirely sustainable, zero-energy home. The agreement ensures that the students who form the university’s team will receive training, support and the latest technology as they participate in the prestigious event. Prof. Hassan Hamdan Al Alkim, president of the university,

By Adedapo Adesanya Bitfinex has become the world’s first international digital asset platform to receive a license as a Digital Asset Service Provider in El Salvador. Under El Salvador’s ground-breaking new Digital Assets Issuance Law (Ley de Emisión de Activos Digitales), Bitfinex Securities El Salvador S.A. de C.V. (Bitfinex Securities El Salvador), a fully-regulated digital asset exchange will be able to issue and trade innovative real-world tokenized assets such as equities and bonds. Bitfinex said the new license marks a significant new milestone in its long-term strategy to deliver financial freedom and inclusion to communities and countries around the world,

By Adedapo Adesanya Oil prices fell on Tuesday amid concerns that the recent surge in coronavirus cases in the United States will limit recovery in fuel demand. This was because 16 US states have reported record increases in new COVID-19 cases in the first few days of July. The Brent crude, which rose at the previous session, shed 2 cents or 0.05 percent to trade at $43.08 per barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped 21 cents or 0.52 percent to trade at $40.41 per barrel. According to reports, in the largest crude producing nation, the state

By Adedapo Adesanya As COVID-19 cases nears 900 in Nigeria, Governors of the 36 states of the federation have agreed to restrict inter-state movement for two weeks. This is part of efforts to curtail the spread of the contagion. This decision was reached at a virtual meeting of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) held on Wednesday, April 22. The Governor of Ekiti State and NGF Chairman, Mr Kayode Fayemi, said the decision had been taken due to the increasing evidence of community transmission of the virus. In a communique issued at the end of the meeting, it was stated that,

By Adedapo Adesanya The federal government has expressed its displeasure at Wednesday’s ruling by an Italian court that acquitted the Royal Dutch Shell and Eni for alleged fraud as regards the Oil Production License (OPL) 245 in Nigeria. A representative of the Nigerian government told Bloomberg that the nation will wait to review the Italian court’s written judgment before considering its position. “The Federal Republic of Nigeria is disappointed in today’s (Wednesday) ruling in Milan, but thanks the Italian prosecuting authorities for their tireless efforts. “The Federal Republic of Nigeria will continue to hold those responsible for the OPL 245

By Dipo Olowookere Five new banks have been issued operating licences by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to carry out financial services in the country, Business Day is reporting. Relying on information from those allegedly familiar with the development, the reputable business journal said one of the new banks may commence operations this week. However, it said most of the lenders are planning to kick off banking operations in the country before August 2019. One of the new banks, “Globus” is said to be spearheaded by Elias Igbinakenzua, a former Executive Director at a tier one bank. Business Post

By Johnstone Oltetia There are two essential parts to achieving affordable housing: building decent, low-cost homes, and developing a housing finance market that enables low-income earners to buy those homes. For, without finance, almost no home price is low enough to be affordable on an average salary. For this reason, the mortgage market has been growing. Housing loans have risen more than ten-fold since 2006, from 1,278 loans valued at Sh19m 12 years ago to 24,458 loans valued at Sh203.3bn by 2015, according to the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK). But the market still remains tiny when compared with other