AfDB Board Okays $1.5bn to Avert Food Crisis in Africa

By Professor Maurice Okoli As stipulated by the guidelines, Russia will take over BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa] from January 2024.  With the heightening of geopolitical tensions, Russia’s priority focus is on the group’s possible enlargement to counter U.S. hegemony. It plans to push seriously for critical reforms in the international financial architecture and create a solidified platform for building an equitable multipolar world order. In the past few years, the BRICS group has taken a number of broad initiatives that aim at countering hegemonic policies and against the collective West for imposing the ‘rules of the

By Adedapo Adesanya The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has called on African countries to prioritise the development of public and private export trading companies (ETCs) in order to position the continent’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to participate effectively in global trade. This was a core message in an address to the Africa International Exhibition on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York by Mrs Kanayo Awani, Afreximbank’s Executive Vice President, Intra-African Trade Bank, speaking on behalf of Bank President Mr Benedict Oramah. She said that SMEs participating directly in global trade face stiff competition from

By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh Russia, the largest country in the world by area, has a population of 147.2 million, according to the population census. In the 2021 census, it was said that roughly 81% of the population were ethnic Russians, and 19% of the population were ethnic minorities. Demographers say Russia has become increasingly reliant on immigration to maintain its population. Russia’s population is increasingly decreasing since the start of its invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in late February 2022. The demographic crisis has deepened primarily due to high military fatalities while simultaneously facing renewed brain drain and human capital flight

By Dipo Olowookere The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved the sourcing of a fresh $247.3 million (about N76 billion at the official rate of N306/$) for the provision of rural electrification projects in the country as well some road projects in Lagos State. Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, who briefed newsmen on outcome of yesterday’s FEC meeting, said government is optimistic that these projects, when completed, would significantly boost the nation’s economy. Giving a breakdown of the external loan, the Minister said $150 million would come from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and used specifically on rural

By Nneka Okumazie While there’s a lot of attention to biological evolution, probably the most important evolution to human progress is contemporaneous anthropological evolution. How is it that some communities are inclined to certain ways? How did they get there – looking through their history? How are some people in similar societies adapted differently, then others just nearby? What priority did their ancestors have, that was passed on, and morphed into some of the things that are visible today? For example, some people are generally adventurous and courageous. They are known to try new things, risk delicate stuff, for a

Acting Managing Director of the Ports and Cargo Handling Services Limited, a subsidiary of SIFAX Group, operators of Terminal C at the Tin-Can Island Port, Alhaji Mohammed Bulangu, has identified areas that the government needs to address in order for the country to take advantage of the ongoing Greenfield seaport development. Bulangu identified these solutions while delivering a lecture titled: ‘Greenfield Development: Imperative for Port Development in Africa,’ at the African Day of Seas and Oceans, hosted by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) in Lagos recently. According to him, there is an urgent need to find sustainable

By Adedapo Adesanya  The oil market ended the turbulent 2022 positively amid tight supplies following the war in Ukraine, weakening demand from the world’s top crude importer China and fears over the global economy. Brent crude on Friday rose by $2.45 or 2.94 per cent to $85.91 a barrel, with the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gaining 91 cents or 1.2 per cent to $80.44 per barrel. For the year, Brent gained 8 per cent, after jumping 50 per cent in 2021, while US crude was set to rise about 5 per cent following last year’s gain of 55

By Aduragbemi Omiyale Members of the Association of Bikers and Drifters intending to be in Gombe State from today, Thursday, June 8, 2023, have been assured drinks that would energise their system. This assurance was given by Fearless Energy Drinks, which supports the Gombe Grand Coverage under its Embrace the Thrill slogan. Business Post reports that activities lined up for the 5-day event will include the arrival of bikers and stunts, aerobics, indoor games, motorsports, music performance, fireworks, library commissioning, tree planting and a courtesy visit to the palace of the Emir of Gombe, Mr Abubakar Shehu Abubakar III, who

By Dipo Olowookere The treasury bills market closed bullish on Monday as investors look forward to a booming fixed income market segment this week. At the close of business yesterday, the average yields in the T-bills market reduced further by 0.30 percent to settle at 12.17 percent. This was as market players looked to the secondary market to invest maturities and excess liquidity positions. According to analysts at Zedcrest Research, this came on the back of the absence of an Open Market Operations (OMO) auction by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the previous week and inflows from FAAC

By Adedapo Adesanya The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has assured stakeholders in the downstream of the oil sector that value would be created for them. The Director of DPR, Mr Sarki Auwalu, said the federal government was already making efforts to upgrade the sector to meet up with the global standard. At a virtual meeting with the members of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) on Wednesday, the energy expert noted that the downstream has the capacity to improve revenue from the oil and gas sector, increase contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and create massive employment.

By Adedapo Adesanya Oil settled lower on Thursday for the third consecutive day on the prospect of a large rate hike in the United States later this month. Brent depreciated by 47 cents or 0.5 per cent to $99.10 a barrel while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude lost 52 cents or 0.5 per cent to close at $95.78 a barrel. The pressure on the oil market was previously building after a higher-than-expected US inflation data for June and crude inventories build both reported on Wednesday, weighed on market sentiment and prices on Thursday. In the world’s largest oil