AfDB Approves $304m Loan for South Africa

By Adedapo Adesanya The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) and the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) have signed an agreement for a dual currency line of credit comprising $50 million and €50 million to support local agricultural businesses in West Africa. The credit lines are expected to strengthen food security, economic growth, and employment generation. The President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of EBID, Mr George Agyekum Donkor and Mr Solomon Quaynor, AfDB Vice President for Private Sector, Infrastructure, and industrialisation, formalised the agreement during a signing ceremony at the bank’s headquarters in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh The African continent is one of the fastest-growing energy markets in the world. This is due to the growing economic and demographic potential of African countries, as well as the efforts of many of them to combat climate change. Despite having passed through a long period of tumultuous post-colonial era, Africa’s efforts to ensure effective energy cooperation with leading global powers has not been an easy journey down the years. Until today, more than half of the estimated 1.4 billion still have no access to electric power for domestic utilization while industries continue suffering from frequent

By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh The World Bank has approved a $1 billion loan to support South Africa’s energy sector which is currently experiencing worse conditions including inadequate funds for overhauling, renovation and upgrading. Energy experts believe that the World Bank’s loan, which seems the last resort, would pull South Africa out of its persistent energy crisis that has adversely hit industrial production. The energy problem has forced the country to lean on its highly polluting coal-fired power stations and consistent difficulties of generating enough electricity for its 62 million people. The state-run power utility, Eskom, generates approximately 80% of the

By Adedapo Adesanya Three scientists will share the Nobel Prize in Physics as the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences recognised Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L’Huillier as this year’s recipients for experimental methods that generate attosecond pulses of light for the study of electron dynamics in matter. The three Nobel Laureates in Physics 2023 were recognised for their experiments, which have given humanity new tools for exploring the world of electrons inside atoms and molecules. BREAKING NEWSThe Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2023 #NobelPrize in Physics to Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L’Huillier

By Ayomide Oriade COVID-19 pandemic has left the world in dire straits by causing a recession from which global economies will have to wait till 2022 for recovery. The World Bank 2020 Global Economic Prospect, June 2020, forecast that the pandemic will plunge all countries into the worst recession in history. The United States’ economy slipped into recession due to the coronavirus crisis. Canada, Germany, France and Japan have all been dealt with strong economic blows. Bringing it home, Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, recently said Nigeria was heading towards recession unless the country achieves a very strong Q3

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Africa’s richest man, Mr Aliko Dangote, has thrown his full weight behind the debut N100 billion Sukuk exercise embarked upon by the Debt Management Office (DMO) on behalf of the Nigerian government. Mr Dangote, speaking when the Director-General of the debt office, Ms Patience Oniha, paid him a courtesy visit in Lagos, said the exercise was commendable. “I want to urge Nigerians to invest in the offer as it is high yielding with 16.47 percent. It is tax free and will be beneficial to all who invest, it will enhance infrastructural growth. “I encourage each and every

By Dipo Olowookere In keeping with its commitment to promote qualitative education and sustainable development in Nigeria, Keystone Bank Limited has handed over a renovated and fully equipped Sick Bay to Dodan Barracks Primary School, Obalende, Lagos. At the commissioning of the facility, the Divisional Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications of Keystone Bank, Mrs Omobolanle Osotule, noted that the sick bay was revamped to manage remote health challenges of the students. Mrs Osotule, who revealed the lender’s passion for investment in the education sector, disclosed that the intervention was aimed at supporting the school to further improve the learning and

By Adedapo Adesanya Oil prices weakened further by more than 2 per cent on Wednesday, compounding more worries for the global market due to a sour outlook for fuel demand as COVID-19 cases surge worldwide, outweighing a fall in crude inventories. Yesterday, the Brent crude oil futures went down by $1.59 or 2.3 per cent to $67.44 per barrel, while the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures lost $2.04 or 3.06 per cent to trade at $64.53 per barrel. Both benchmarks have been under pressure for the last few weeks due to the rise in infections caused by the

By Dipo Olowookere A court sitting in Sokoto State has ordered a businessman, Mr Hamzat Muhammad Bashar, to refund the N29.1 billion he collected from different investors. Mr Bashar had lured some persons, including Ms Hadiza Aliyu, from parting with their money with a promise that they would receive a 20 per cent return on investment (RoI) every month and dividends at the end of the year. He had claimed he was into the business of gold and herbs, but after investing various sums of money, Mr Bashar did not give the investors the 20 per cent returns he promised

By Modupe Gbadeyanka All is now set for the grand finale of the Future Face Africa (FFA) model talent search taking place at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos on Sunday, January 30, 2022. The event has the full support of Ecobank Nigeria, ensuring that the winner gets a good platform to shine and have a chance to get a two-year modelling contract with a top international modelling agency, as well as a $5,000 cash prize. It was gathered that after a rigorous selection process involving physical castings in eight African countries, as well as thousands of digital applications from

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Manchester United captain, Wayne Rooney, on Saturday broke Bobby Charlton’s United record of 249 goals after scoring an extra-time equaliser for the Red Devils against Stock City in a Premier League match. The England striker netted his 250th goal for United in a 1-1 draw at the bet365 Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Rooney’s goal came a fortnight after he equalled Charlton’s goal tally during an FA Cup tie against second-tier Reading. In 2015, the 31-year-old forward succeeded Charlton as England’s record goal-scorer. Speaking after the game at Stock, Rooney, who was signed by former United Manager, Sir

By Kester Kenn Klomegah With coronavirus rapidly spreading among the population of 148 million, Russia took the third position in the world. According to the official data provided on May 11, Russia had an aggregate total of 221,344 COVID-19 cases. The United Kingdom and Italy earlier reported 219,183 and 219,070 cases, respectively. Spain comes in second with 224,390 coronavirus cases, and the United States ranked first with nearly 1.4 million cases. That are huge gaps compared to over 50,000 cases among 1.3 billion population of Africa, at a first glance, and readily offered an understandable story. South Africa and Maghreb